I’ve always thought of myself as “smart” – booksmart, at least, with a side of common sense. I always did well in school and while my room or my desk were never physically organized, I was always mentally organized enough to still know where everything was. It all made sense to me. My memory was always very sharp , too. I never needed a calendar to remember anyone’s birthday or to know where I needed to be, when. I just remembered.
Then I got pregnant, and life’s details started to get a little fuzzy. Then I had a baby. I found it hard to remember what day it was. Then I got pregnant again and had another baby. Soon I could no longer remember my own name or where I lived!
Ok, that is a slight exaggeration, but seriously peeps, I am no longer the sharpest pencil in the box. I just can’t remember things! I double-book myself for playdates, I misplace stuff I swear I JUST HAD MY HANDS ON, and I always have to race back into the house to get stuff I’ve forgotten: my purse, the diaper bag, a pacifier. I NEVER make it out of the house on the first try. For a “smart” girl, I sure feel like a dummy. But alas, thanks to my mom and MSNBC, I’ve recently learned that it’s NOT MY FAULT!
One day a few weeks ago my mom and I were talking on the phone and she informed me that she’d seen an interesting piece on the Today show about mothers with memory problems. “It’s called Momnesia,” she said, “It’s real.” Before she could explain, I jumped up and did a dance of joy. Finally! A reason I was such a space case! I got on MSNBC and checked out the article that accompanied the Today show piece. Basically it says that after you have a baby, hormones turn your brain to mush. Luckily for me, I can still claim to be a Momnesiac because apparently breastfeeding keeps your brain function at mushy levels. Yeee-haaa!! It’s not early-onset Alzheimer’s! It’s just Momnesia! I might one day still recover some of my pre-mommy brain power. (Please, oh please, oh please, Lord!) But until then, I’ve bought myself a planner (and by “bought” I mean I got it at FREEVS, I mean CVS for FREE-99) to try and ensure that my kids and I end up where we need to be when we need to be, and that I don’t say we’ll be in two places at once. I’ve always been the type to buy a planner and never use it, but now that I’ve been diagnosed with Momnesia, I swear I am gonna utilize this thing to help me on my road to recovery. For realzies, y’all. (I’m also on a strict memory replacement therapy that includes large quantities of Mountain Dew and Tim Horton’s Cafe Mochas. It’s totally yummy working.)
So, the next time you get halfway to the grocery store and realize you meant to go to the mall, don’t worry! It’s just MOMNESIA! It’ll pass.
In about 18 years.
Let’s start a Momnesia support group! Share your Momnesia moments! (Please tell me I’m not the only one!)
I’ve always said, “I’m not losing my mind… the kids are taking it from me.” It’s glad to know that I wasn’t a liar. Thanks for the reassurance.
We totally forgot to go to the circus! We were sitting down eating dinner and we were talking about how much we were going to enjoy the circus… and I realized that it was GOING ON AS WE SPOKE.
And, the sad thing is, I have a family calendar, a planner which goes everywhere with me, and a 5 subject notebook where I write EVERYTHING down. AND I STILL FORGOT.
i am right there too. sometimes i feel like i am all over the place and can’t get it together. i tell people that if it isn’t written on a diaper i don’t remember it.
I am glad I am not alone!
Man…chicks got ALL the good excuses…
What do men get? A receding hairline and hair on their backs…woo hoo..
p.s.
I think I’ve had a Dadurism on a few occasions. You know where you think your head is going to explode from something crazy your kids are doing?
Does that count?
I guess I have had it for 14 + years….. 😉 Classic momnesia moment. Last week I came home @ noon with 3 of the kids. 3 hours later I needed to leave to ge tthe others at school so I loaded the 3 little urchins in the van and reached into my pocket to get my keys which of course were NOT THERE! 10 minutes of searching left me at a loss. I had just used them 3 hours prior….where could I have out them? I resorted to the “spare” key and left for school. When I got home I went to help our 3 year old go potty -yes she is finally done with diapers – yahoo – and gues what I found? My car keys on the bathroom sink….where I set them “to go” before we left,,,,DUH!!!!!! I think I am losing my mind at times….
Oh wow, I’m so glad you posted this. I’ve been complaining to my husband about this lately. I swear….I used to be a professional woman. I taught college for crying out loud! Now, I stutter….say words wrong, or say the wrong word…..make no sense. I can’t remember ANYthing, and I’m always in a “fog”. I think I’d be better if Aiden would just sleep all night….but noooo…17 months of sleep deprivation has made me STUPID!
I’m totally there with you! It started to get better…and then I got pregnant with #3. She’s now 8 months old and my memory is still gone! I have to use a calendar/organizer or I would totally forget to show up for appointments – I’m also glad that most places call and remind you the day before – So helpful!
Hope your organizer helps you feel like you have your brain back!…It has for me!
Yesterday, I went to Target to get a new Swiffer mop. I walked around, got some stuff, walked by the cleaning aisle and thought “I know I needed something from the cleaning section, but I can’t remember what it was” and went home without the thing I went there for! Of course, I didn’t get out of there for less than $75!!!
I’m SO there with you — I keep telling Dave that I USED to be smart and its just gone! I have two degrees on my wall that are supposed to prove it, but now I wonder how I ever got them!
My sister’s have always said the same thing – the oldest has the best story (better than my recent one’s so I’ll share hers). She bought curtains for her new house, but at the time didn’t know if she needed shorter length or longer, so she bought one of each. Once she tried them out she realized she needed the shorter, so she went to the store and returned the longer ones. She then shopped around for other stuff, went back to the curtain section, bought the LONG curtains and went home. When she got home she realized that not only had she bought the same length she had returned, but they were the SAME curtains because they restocked them while she was shopping! She has a Masters and teaches AP Calculus, but those kids of hers have just drained her brain!
My other sister said she heard a report that says your IQ actually decreases with every kid you have — I better stop now!!