She Yodels a Tale of Single Mom Burn-Out

Our Spring Break Trip to Disneyland

I know the title of this blog is filling you with envy and wonder. Yodeling. 

It isn’t so much about yodeling as it is about exhaustion. I had found myself around the time of this picture and afterward burnt out, exhausted. There were so many factors that contributed to this burn out it would be quite unfair if I named just one. Let’s just chalk it up to single Mom problems and a hectic schedule. My exhaustion was becoming hard to mask as I am so good at doing usually. I cried at work one day, lost patience with my own children at home, it wasn’t pretty. Something had to give. 

When someone says to you, “I don’t know how you do it all. You seem to pull everything together so seamlessly as a single Mom. You’re doing it better than a lot of families with two parents.”

I want to cry, IT IS A WELL DISGUISED FARCE! I can’t do it all. There is one of me doing a job that should be completed by two. I also know that this is a compliment and gladly take it. I am happy that my skillful job of tricking those around me into thinking I have it all together is working. 

Shouldering the work of Mom and Dad is not easy. Neither is sharing your kids 50-50. I think those are the hardest things. They contribute to single mom burn out or maybe just Sunny D burn-out. Plus, I know everyone has a hard line to tow. Everyone has tricky spots in life even if there are two of you. I’m just saying it sure would be nice to bounce ideas off of someone before conking out for the night. Pillow talk. Miss that. 

However, it is really nice being single and having all the good idea’s. Oh, You want to spend $100 on Lulu’s instead of an Easter dress?? GREAT IDEA….glad I thought of it. These are the actual thoughts that go through my head and they are always the BEST ideas. Especially since I don’t have to talk 

them over with anyone. SO there are SOME pluses to being single. 

When I get to Single Mom burn-out stage I realize that it is up to me to be happy. Plus, I knew when my Mom said to me one Sunday in a kind way……”It just doesn’t seem like you are enjoying life.” I realized the jig was up and I had been discovered. I wasn’t enjoying life. I was burnt out. 

It was time to create my own beach. By that I mean, the beach is my happy place. It was time to carve some of that into my life. Find my own personal Beach. So I did. 

1. I focused on serving others, if opportunities knocked I answered the door

2. I bought a bike and am riding it to and from work and all around town with my kids most Monday nights to get a treat.

…….Single Mom problems….my back tire is flat and off the spoke part so now I’m going to have to figure out how to fix it….thank goodness for you tube!

3. I started back at the gym at 5 am every morning. I am too tired to go after work. 

4. I took a personal day from work and organized my house, bought myself a new dress for work and church, and ate a big fat chicken pita by myself. We had dentist appointments in the afternoon so I would have had to take a half day anyway. That morning off when I was supposed to be at work energized me. I didn’t have to wake up until seven! 

5. I spent time with friends

I made my own personal beach. I feel much better now. So what does this have to do with yodeling. Well, my Grandpa was the first yodeler. I can say that I learned all I need to know about being an amateur  yodeler from listening to him. If you know me or the home I grew up in there was a lot of singing going on. Not like sitting around the piano together singing because I think that’s weird but just walking around the house singing. My Mom sang all the time and so did I. Or, so do I. However, 

when I am burnt-out the singing stops. I have noticed that. The other day I was getting my children ready for school it was AZ Merit state testing week. I told them I was going to sing them my good luck testing song. I didn’t have a song ready so I just started to yodel. I mean that’s a natural response, right? Yodel if you can’t think of a song? Anyway, they laughed and were happy and I realized in that moment that I was happy once again too, and that made me even happier. 

I arrived at school and was getting my class ready for the AZ Merit test when I told them I was going to sing them my good luck testing song. They looked at me with eager eyes and I began to yodel. They laughed, the testing tension was broken and they began their test. The funny thing is my little class wouldn’t take their test each and every day after that unless I had sung them my good luck testing song. I even let some of them try their hand at yodeling. I know that is kind of weird of me but you have to be a special brand of person to be a teacher and yodeling is totally included in that brand. Think of it as Dumbo’s feather, with that feather he could fly. Whatever it takes to help a child believe in themselves, even if it’s the long lost art of the yodel. 

And so I am happy again and that is the best thing. 

XOXO- The Sunny D