Survival Mode

I am in survival mode. You know you are in survival mode if:

1. You drink more than half your jumbo sized pot of coffee.
2. You need drugs to be able to sleep (because you can't turn your brain off). Did you notice the mild upper/downer thing I have going on here?
3. Your running list of things to do is prioritized by what will keep you alive.
4. You eat out of pots and pans and drink out of the carton just so you won't make more dishes or because you have no more dishes to eat off.
5. You actually contemplate having your husband pick you up new underwear just so you don't have to do laundry. "Oh, and a pair of footy pj's for each kid and a t-shirt for me. Also, if you want something to wear to school, you better get something for you. Actually 7 somethings because I'm not going to get to the laundry this week."
6. Your kids watch more TV than you ever dreamed. (Your child is actually talking with a Junior Asperagus accent.)
7. You buy "nice" PJs so you will have something to wear when people come to the door.
8. You would rather fish stuff out of your child's mouth than vacuum. The three second rule becomes the three day rule... becomes the "recognizable" rule. "What is that? A goldfish cracker? Didn't we run out of those last week? Ok..."
9. You sleep in your car just to get away from the messy house.
10. You want your mommy, and not just to make you some soup. You need her to clean, cook and HOLD YOU!

Survival mode started when I had my second child. I'll admit that after having Abby, I was in it for a few months but after the 6th month or so of being pregnant with Cate, I was back in it and I have never come out. I really thought I would get it together sooner than this but it's just one thing after another (pregnancy and a toddler, potty training, child birth, dealing with being a mother of two - God only knows how people with more than two even function at all, lay offs, moving, finances, economy, sickness). I thought my life was exceptional in this area but I have come to see that we all deal with this stuff. I do mean ALL of us. Even if you don't have kids, you go into survival mode for short periods of time and if you have kids, it just prolongs it. I thought that the move, the craziness of changing lifestyle and all was the reason but it's not. It's just a factor in my survival. Everyone has their own factors. If you are in survival mode now, tell me that it's going to get better - that I will get a full nights sleep someday and that I can look forward to having a clean house sometime.