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!)
