{"id":159,"date":"2025-10-21T12:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/?p=159"},"modified":"2026-01-06T08:28:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:28:58","slug":"head-shoulders-knees-and-overstimulated-af","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/?p=159","title":{"rendered":"Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Overstimulated AF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Written a couple of weeks ago \u2014 but spoiler alert: not much has changed )<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s 10:48 a.m. and I am overstimulated AF. Evelyn is in rare form today. I\u2019m trying\u2014really trying\u2014to stay kind and calm, but my goodness. It feels like she woke up and decided her mission was to give me the middle finger on repeat. Every \u201cdon\u2019t do that\u201d becomes \u201cexactly what I will be doing, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now she\u2019s roughhousing with our seven-month-old puppy, Finn\u2014teasing him with a toy, then smacking him when he reacts. Random murder-scene screams echo through the house while I\u2019m just trying to enjoy one uninterrupted cup of coffee. Just one. Maybe five quiet minutes to balance the checkbook, pay bills, and scribble a grocery list before the teenagers come back this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to stroll through Target and actually read birthday cards without entertaining a toddler. I want to wander aimlessly without anyone yelling \u201cMOM!\u201d from three rooms away. Instead\u2014here comes Evelyn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI WANT WAFFLES!\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t like Halloween!\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t like trains!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sprints through the open floor plan like a track star yelling, \u201cI have to go potty!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cue detective mode. Silence\u2014never a good sign. She\u2019s probably \u201cwashing\u201d her hands with half a bottle of soap. Wait\u2014there\u2019s the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward: she\u2019s on the toilet, declaring she\u2019s done, then not done, then demanding privacy. Two seconds later: \u201cI\u2019m all done now!\u201d Meanwhile, both dogs are in the bathroom because privacy is apparently a luxury. Clark is terrified to miss anything, Finn is nose-deep in toddler business, and I\u2019m just wondering how many hours are left in this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere between refereeing the toddler and keeping the dogs alive, I got hit with another reality check: perimenopause<\/strong>\u2014the gift that shows up right when you think you\u2019re getting your life together. FLO reminds me she\u2019s coming in ten days. Cool, thanks. I just finished.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer has been a wrecking ball of lessons. July: allergic reaction = steroids. Then: throw my back out = more steroids. Period won\u2019t leave for fourteen days when all I want is to feel like myself (and maybe have a smidge of intimate time with my husband!). September: fifteen days late. Pee on a stick\u2014negative. Next day? \u201cHey girl, miss me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, I finally went back to the gym. Eased in. Didn\u2019t go hard. Hydrated, stretched, even popped a gabapentin \u201cjust in case.\u201d Treated my body like the temple it could<\/em> be. Drew a lavender bath, went to bed feeling like I had my life together. Then 11:30 p.m. hits\u2014every joint on fire. Head, shoulders, knees, and even my toes (sing it!). The lactic acid burn didn\u2019t just hit my thighs\u2014it hit my knuckles. WTF?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick, of course, asked \u201cChad Geppetto\u201d (a.k.a. ChatGPT) what was wrong with me. Answer: perimenopause. Lower estrogen = less anti-inflammatory magic = harder workout recovery. Fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, I thought, okay\u2014I\u2019ll build consistency. And then Evelyn decided ChildWatch was terrifying.<\/em> Fixated on one sweet staff member (shout-out to Ms. T, who was just helping me sneak out the door), she now screams: \u201cShe took me away from Mommy! I\u2019m scared of her!\u201d The meltdown was so bad they actually called me\u2014first time ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two more attempts. Same meltdown. And that was it. I haven\u2019t been back in two weeks because honestly, I don\u2019t have the bandwidth for that battle. It\u2019s yet another thing I\u2019m not<\/em> doing for myself. Nick\u2019s super supportive\u2014he tells me to go when he gets home\u2014but after being up at 5:15 a.m. and doing all the SAHM things, by 6:45 p.m. I just want to collapse and snuggle him. Which is<\/em> a kind of self-care\u2026 but still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I\u2019m tired all the time. Quick to snap. Sometimes zoning out like I left my brain in the fridge next to the pumpkin-spice oat milk. Funny at first\u2014now? Not so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there are the pets. Overstimulation isn\u2019t just for toddlers. The dogs follow me everywhere.<\/em> Finn thinks his purpose in life is to lick me every time I put on lotion. His Aussie need-to-touch leaves me looking slightly bruised (I\u2019m fine, I promise). Clark, my bichon-poodle shadow, insists on lap snuggles until Finn body-slams him off. Meanwhile, Charlie the cat perches on the chair behind me like the king of the house. Finn sees him, eyes wide with desperate hope\u2014\u201cPLEASE be my friend!\u201d<\/em> Charlie, of course, declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here I am: toddler yelling about waffles, dogs in a soap opera over my attention, cat silently judging. And me? I just want a nap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then there are small victories. Laundry folded. Dishes done. Bills paid. I even tucked Evelyn in for her nap at 11:30 a.m. without a fight. White noise on, lights out, and she hasn\u2019t moved in thirty minutes. And<\/em> I got another blog post locked and loaded. Victory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you haven\u2019t watched Night Bitch<\/em> yet\u2014do it. Moms, especially SAHMs, will get it.<\/em> It nails that rinse-repeat, Groundhog-Day feeling of motherhood: comforting yet absolutely exhausting. For those of us who\u2019ve worked and raised kids, being home is a gift\u2026 but sometimes it feels like being lost in the sauce. Night Bitch<\/em> is raw, funny, unhinged, and real\u2014a must-see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, I\u2019m overstimulated, exhausted, hormonal, and riding the rollercoaster of invisible work. But I\u2019m also consistent. Resilient. And even in the chaos, teaching Evelyn how to rest while reminding myself I deserve the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And coffee? I do get my peaceful cup early, before Evelyn\u2019s up, when Nick and I sit together before work. But by mid-morning, I always want more. I know it adds to the overstimulation, but that smell, that warmth\u2014it\u2019s comfort. Maybe it\u2019s nostalgia from living in Germany and fetching coffee for Mom, or maybe it\u2019s three years in the caffeine chaos of Starbucks. Either way, coffee is still my love language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head, shoulders, knees, and overstimulated AF. Somebody please just let me drink this cup while it\u2019s still hot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Written a couple of weeks ago \u2014 but spoiler alert: not much has changed ) It\u2019s 10:48 a.m. and I am overstimulated AF. Evelyn is in rare form today. I\u2019m trying\u2014really trying\u2014to stay kind and calm, but my goodness. It feels like she woke up and decided her mission was to give me the middle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-lately"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}