While reading the book, “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy” by Sarah Ban Breathnach, the devotion if you will, for July 24 screamed at me.
It talks about something called Privacy Deprivation Syndrome. I had never heard of this before, so I kept reading. The symptoms listed are:
• Increasing resentment
• Mood swings
• Chronic fatigue
• Depression
Sound like anyone you know? It sure describes me during the summer. Over the past several years I have noticed that I get very crabby during the summer, and the longer summer goes, the worse it gets. I had attributed it to seasonal allergies, because late summer is when the ragweed goes into full swing and so does my mood. I even wrote a blog about this about a year ago.
However, reading this daily devotion, and doing some thinking made me realize that this makes sense. Summer is a three month (roughly) complete change in schedule for your child, and for you. We always focus on how summer breaks affect our kids, but we forget that our world gets turned upside down as well. During the school year I basically have peace and quiet all day. I can go to the bathroom without anyone knocking on the door and asking me questions. I can shower without anyone asking how long I’m going to be in there. I can eat what I want for lunch, when I want to. I can do my writing pretty much any time of the day. Not so during the summer.
During the summer, my days are spent answering a million questions, some of them just plain inane. There are birthday parties, play dates, slamming doors, the dogs in and out and so on. Not a moment’s peace. Even my exercise routine that I have incorporated into my day now involves the kids. Talking a walk by myself is not an option.
It’s not that I don’t love my kids, but I don’t have a moment of privacy or quiet. This summer I instituted quiet time, which has helped. Last night, after having coffee with our outgoing interim pastor and some friends, I went out to discover that my car wouldn’t start. My husband came and jumped the battery for me, but I drove him in absolute silence. I turned off the radio, unplugged the GPS, and it was late at night so Hannah was asleep. The twenty minutes it took me to drive home were twenty minutes that are normally unheard of in a regular day.
Anyone will go “crazy” if you don’t have some privacy and time to yourself in your day. When it goes on and on for three months, you might look like a raving lunatic. I know that’s how I feel. Whether you spend thirty minutes by yourself before everyone else gets up or after they go to bed, spend some time locked in the bathroom soaking in the tub, or making time to spend with friends or even taking a walk alone, make time each day to have some privacy. I’m making it a priority in my life.