Families

In theory, the concept of a new mom not being able to answer your phone calls and/or texts right away should be self-explanatory...

“Is she Black or white?” I asked another mom who was describing a little girl in her son’s class that she thought my family might know.

As the headline article (“Anxiety, Depression and the American Adolescent”) points out, depression has been replaced with anxiety as the leading mental health struggle of today’s adolescent. The one possible cause that stood out to me most was the impact of social media. With smartphone in hand, teens can be reading harmless texts, or – as was the case for one young female interviewed – they could be viewing disturbing Instagram posts, or reading about distant tragedies, or scrolling through hateful Facebook comments. Maybe even comments about them.

I’m now a mom of two, and very rarely do I have a moment to myself. Just now, I had a shower and I put my baby son in the bathroom with me, because he cries if he can’t see his mom. My three-year-old daughter sleeps in my bed, and always wants to sit on my lap. I’m with at least one other person 24 hours a day.And I hate to admit it, but it’s draining. I love my children more than anything. They are my favourite humans in the world, along with my husband. The reason why I am drained is because, as an introvert, constantly being around people saps my energy.

This article originally appeared on The Good Men Project and has been republi

I feel like if I’d started earlier, had my first kid at 28 instead of 34, maybe I’d be a little less tired right now. Maybe I’d be a more fun mom if my knees didn’t sound like small arms fire every time I tried to run with my son. Maybe I’d be a better mom if I was younger. But I don’t think so. My kids? They’re awesome. And I’m the mom they have, so I must be doing something right, old or not.

Life looks a lot different at 40 than it did at 25, and I have a whole new list of things to worry about. It's a very long list, and it makes me anxious on the best day, plain terrified on the worst day, and on a run-of-the-mill day, it just keeps reminding me that I'm clueless about what to think and what to do and how to be grown.

When you lose a child, you no longer have the words to ask for help. It’s up to us on the outside to lend our support, and there are plenty of ways in which to do this.