When Watering a Plant Becomes Too Much

You know you are over extended when even your plants seem too needy. I looked at those two thirsty pots of need and walked away to water them another day. Another day never came.

There just doesn't seem to be enough of "me" to go around lately. When ten to eleven hours of the weekday are spent watching over one to three year olds, there is rarely a chance to sit still in the sun and soak in the day. Somebody always needs something. If they don't, I need to be utilizing those moments where I find them in order to provide food, order and structure within our day. My Fitbit tells me that I put on about 10,000 (usually more) steps per daycare day. This explains why I wear out socks so fast but it also justifies why nothing else seems to get done during my week. Those little people eat up a lot of my energy.

I feel better when I push myself out and mingle with adults throughout the week but doing so takes away from the time I need for "me" and sleep. It is a slippery slope. I don't even want to talk at the end of my day, let alone leave the house. Friendship is so vital to nurturing one's soul. But it is an investment that also takes time and energy from a day that has already gone on for soooo long.

Then there is my Saturday employment. I see no way out, so I focus on what it brings into my week. I use a different part of my brain, I'm helping a friend, I do get paid for my efforts and I finally found a way to work "getting groceries" into a week that is never long enough. I stop for groceries on my way home, pick up sub sandwiches for supper, come home, put everything away then I reward myself with my sub. "All the hard stuff is done! Now I can relax..."

Except, if I want to get anything done at all around the house I cannot afford to fritter away too many Sundays. I take what I need, when I need them but when I spend an entire Sunday working at that which must be done, I am completely depleted when I wake up to a new week the next morning.

The to-do list never ends. In fact it rarely even starts because it is too disheartening to write down what needs to be done when you don't ever get the satisfaction of stroking everything (or anything) off of the list. So I now make "piles". The reading pile, the dream notebook, that which I need to do or file away pile, the income tax pile, the writing pile ...

And then there are (were) the plants. "You want something from me too?? Well get to the back of the line, buster! You can just sit there and wait."

People say plants usually suffer from too much watering. Not in this house, they don't. I used to water the plants on Fridays. Then I would forget on Friday and do it when I remembered the following Monday or Wednesday. Then when the new watering day should have been Wednesday, it got pushed back until Friday again. Then Monday or Wednesday and so on and so forth.

Finally, my plants went two weeks without water. They even had the nerve to thrive throughout their drought. And I neglected to water them when the second Friday rolled around. Or the Monday or Wednesday following that. By the time Thursday rolled around I thought "I don't want these plants and they won't die!" So I put them up for adoption.

Thankfully my second son was willing to take on these plants which had a history. My sister-in-law (his aunt) gave them to us twenty three years ago. They have never been repotted, fertilized or nurtured in any way other than their weekly shot of water. Yet they survived and thrived this neglect.

When my son said he would take them off my hands, I felt the same relief when our poor, neglected dog found a home where he would be wanted, loved and get the attention he deserved. Finally! A good home for our plants.

What is going on when watering two plants once every week or so becomes too much?? I am now wondering what else is dispensable around here. My youngest son better watch out! (just kidding)