How Tired?

I’ll confess.

I’m tired. I’m feeling extremely old and wondering if I’m cut out for this anymore. I haven’t even been swimming this week, just crashing on the sofa with my knitting or a book, sitting in complete silence and rocking slightly.

Although I’m concerned that it might be my age I do think it probably happens every year. It’s a shock to the system to go back to school after 6 weeks off. In the holidays you relax and forget just how exhausting it is to have to constantly perform in front of a room of thirty barely listening children. My voice is already on its last legs and every bone and muscle in my body aches as though I’ve run a marathon.

Taking the dog out for his early evening walk, while reflecting on just how tired I was and whether it was time to join the Long Suffering Husband in early retirement bliss, I saw some girls in the park. There were four of them, although I didn’t notice one at first. The mum (the girls were about the same age so it was probably a play date) was sitting on the bench looking at her phone. The three girls that I could see were on the swing.

Suddenly one of them said, “Emily’s died!”
Another one said, “No, Emily is just meditating.”
The third said, “Uh huh. Emily is chillaxing on the slide.”
I looked over and saw Emily.
She was on her back with her bottom on the top step and her head pointing down the slide. She did look very relaxed but quite funny and I laughed, which made the mum look up from her phone.
It turns out Emily wasn’t dead, or meditating, or chillaxing but was actually fast asleep and snoring.

Starting back at school takes it out of everyone.