Frazzled that’s a good word. When I was younger I used it to describe the dreaded over heating meltdown the early laptops would often descend into. These days my laptop is that old and slow that it can’t even get warm – except for when the fat boy cat decides to sleep on it.

But now I have adopted Frazzled as my most common state of mind…..that’s even before school holidays start.

School holidays are fantastic as I get to spend even more quality time with our son. Yes I would prefer to sit with a cup of coffee in the happy knowledge that he is having wonderful adventures with friends. But this is a great backup option.

But one downside of school holidays is an outbreak of acute Frazzlement.

I start from a point of parenting fatigue. Then from breakfast until bed time I engage continually with a mind that operates on a completely different level to mine. One that runs at a speed way beyond the capacity of my really outdated brain. So many questions, so many different facts, so many different logic constructs. No outside world to help reset the brain. Rapidly my brain overheats and becomes frazzled. Son calls it Zombie Parenting. I’m there but the brain has shutdown. The simplest tasks become impossible. By the end of the day I am spent. Then you wake up even more tired and the cycle continues.

A blogger far cleverer than me talked about the desirability of having a backspace button options in life. I so so want a brain reset button. That would be fantastic. The chance to press reset then sit 5 minutes while the brain clears out the crap and reloads itself again. I would then be good to go again. Rather than wandering around for hours with an overheating and completely useless brain. System error messages pinging around the head. That’s my excuse for the poor level of my parenting currently. Today’s highlight has to be peeling a banana then handing our son the banana skin. Yes the actual banana had been binned. Not far behind that was trying to unload the bag from the Hoover … while the Hoover was still switched on… had to clean the ceiling.

Bring on Frazzled Friday.

81 thoughts on “Frazzled”

  2. Oh boy! I love the idea of the reset button – for both of us! But I think right now I would give my reset to you 🙂 Mine are all off the next three days. Come Sunday night, well, I can imagine I am going to be looking for a reset button too! 🙂

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  3. You know this happens to me for different reasons. When I struggle all day to hear (I have some hearing loss due to a childhood illness as you may recall) I get to that zombie point where I operate on auto-pilot. The result is fatigue, frazzled, pissed-off at even the slightest disruption. I also get angry quicker, impatient and a number of other not-optimal parenting emotions.

    A reset button would help solve this state of mind. 😉

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  5. Best wishes to you. You said this perfectly. I have been feeling like this lately. I haven’t even been able to do anything the past week because I feel so overwhelmed and as you said “frazzled”

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  9. Been there, done that!
    At least I wasn’t the one who took the lid off the pressure cooker while it was still cooking – I did have to clean the pea and ham off the ceiling, in an old-fashioned house with 15′ ceilings.

    Maybe ask son to take up mathematical pictograms, or programming, or puzzles … or ask him to design you a reset button with a timer and an alarm …

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  10. oh god, I hear ya! I’m not a parent but well a parent to a dog! Which I guess is still a parent! My dog is hyper! I get frazzled so easily though, so many daily stresses, emotional overload, etc! xox

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  12. Lol … reading this kinda makes me want to give you a big hug. I think Frazzled is a great word and this is chock full with your usual loveliness and humour. A brain reset button. Wow! Where can I get one? Or rather for today a day reset button to erase those annoying things that put things into a heavy back slide or spin out.. Just gotta roll with it though, I guess :).

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  16. While you’re at it get a ‘rewind’ button as well… for those emptying vacuum bag and binned banana moments. 🙂

    I’m currently looking at binaural beat tapes/recordings (youtube video’s actually) and the potential to artificially stimulate our brainwaves into a deep sleep rest state but with heightened awareness. Kind of like a reset button for the frazzled brain if you will.

    I’ll keep you informed – but please don’t hold your breath, it could take a while to be sure it’s legit. 😉

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      2. I have. Truly brilliant. Douglas was astonishing. I am truly flattered. I was at a nightclub if Newcastle many years ago when I was told that I looked like an actor. Apparently it was William Shatner, but not the early Kirk years more like the TJHooker version……

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      3. OUCH! I hope no-one has ever compared your singing to him – now that WOULD be bad.

        Yep! Douglas was great – he’s sorely missed – even if he was a devout atheist! Who’s your favourite HH2TG character? Mine is Marvin. (“Brain the size of a planet…. no-one ever listens”). 🙂

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  18. Frazzledom is something we all experience. How you manage to hold it all together when you are on your own is nothing short of outstanding.

    It does sound like you need to find a way to take a break, though. I have no idea what the best approach would be for you, but best of luck in finding it.

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  19. There are support groups out there. Sounds like he needs a new outlet. And you need a break.
    And there is nothing wrong with taking one. He will be fine. YOU , however, need to recharge.

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  20. I get that frazzled feeling a lot when teaching. With 30 little minds all wanting to talk, connect and learn it can really make your head spin. So I do exactly what you suggest would be good, like my own little reset procedure. When I need it, during a 2 min break at playtime say, I’ll go into the staff toilet, wash my hands and then slowly wash my face and neck, just with some water, and take a deep breath. Then I just stand still for 30 seconds and just be. It works for me, maybe it might help?

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  21. Forgive me for laughing, that bit about the hoover and the banana made me. Aw, we all have days like this. Take comfort for this, too, shall pass and your poor brain will be like a new penny: shiny and bright with promise.

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  22. This sounds like me during those first few years, with the colic and the potty training. Just living on that hour of sleep because one must.

    So you get your son to create comics of his gerbils, because I know a certain little girl this side of the Atlantic would LOVE that 😉

    Also, a hawk left his breakfast in our yard this morning. A rabbit. Bash is hoping it’s not the rabbit that lives next door he named Sammy….suuuure it ain’t, kid…

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  23. A walk in the forest is what you need. Fresh air. Nature. Quiet. Hang in there, my friend … it WILL get easier. Breathe. And buy more bananas … next time, perhaps let your son do the peeling! Hugs! 🤗

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  24. Pingback: Frazzled – A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. – International Badass Activists

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