Let’s talk about being tired.

You start out adulthood with no children.  You think you are tired, because you have no framework for the amount of tired you will someday be.  Explaining post- children tired to a single unfettered adult is about as useful as describing labor pain or theoretical math.  No one will understand.

Wow.  Then you get pregnant.  That’s tired.

Then you have a baby.  And they never sleep.  Ever.  Nice ladies admonish you to “sleep when the baby sleeps.”  You frown at them and wander away in a state of constant sleep deprivation.

Then you have two babies.  They tag team you at night.  You think back longingly to the times when you were first pregnant and you could languish on the couch when you were tired.

Then you have THREE babies.  You’re not sure the human body was made to withstand this kind of tired.  You slur words, lose your ability to match wits with other adults.  Sometimes you black out for hours at a time, your brain moving zombie like through the actions required to keep all of your children alive and well.

And when a mom of one tells you she is tired you stare back at her with drool slowly dripping out of your mouth.  But you resist the temptation to slingback a “Oh, just you wait!”  because you remember you once had no framework for the heights of exhaustion you are now experiencing.

You day dream about having telekinetic powers.  Or celebrity status so you could sub in a babysitter while you go to pilates.  We’re all tired.  Some of us just aren’t as well informed about how tired the human body can actually get.

Before kids tired.

After kids tired.