Sandwich Generation

I’m not sure why they call it the sandwich generation.

The definition says that a person feels sandwiched between two different generations that require your attention.

This would be your parents on one side and your children on the other.

However, I consider a sandwich being nicely put together and comforted by both sides of the buns. At the moment this description does not fit into my frame of thinking.

I’m at a stage that I do not feel like a comforted sandwich, but completely pulled apart at all angles.

Each parent pulls at two separate limbs and children pull at your other two limbs, which is why I limited my life to only two children. I would be complete swiss cheese with holes everywhere, if I had more children.

Although I have not been able to stick to this philosophy with pets and keep the household always to 3 pets. I do not know why this happens. Two are cats, so they really do not have constant demands. Although attention and a belly rub is usually requested right when I sit down to work on the computer. The dog just stares at me and waits for the appropriate time to ask for a walk.

2 p.m. on the dot, every day.

After providing for parents, children and pets, what’s left in the middle of this sandwich is slowly pulled and prodded at by others.

This is where I have to politely say no thank you to any requests. Which is not easy for me. At all.

I guess you could say I do feel like a sandwich, but a pulled pork sandwich.

Add some hot peppers and you get heartburn.

But in my case just bouts of anxiety.

Anxiety is that feeling I wait to go away at night, just as I would sit and wait for heartburn to pass.

There is no reason for my anxiety and I can’t pinpoint the exact source, but it’s there, and will pass. You would think I would worry about important issues, such as the presidential election or climate change, but no, that takes a back burner.

One saying is to not sweat the small stuff, but that is not possible for me. All I can think of is the small stuff.

A friend posted a statement that says perhaps we worry about the small things because the big stuff is just too overwhelming.

There is also a feeling that perhaps I can solve the small stuff. As I think and worry about the small stuff, I am also working through solutions.

I am a mom, I have to try to fix things.

At first, the solutions do not appear. It takes a good night sleep to get an aha moment in the morning. And in my case, taking the time to talk out the worries, until an idea pops into my head.

The poor people around me, get a mouthful of worries. I’m not looking for a solution from others, but the process helps me process the problem and search in a new area for a solution.

It’s great to have a solution pop into your head, just by talking. People do not realize how helpful they really are, by not saying a word, but by listening alone.

My worries and continued searching for answers are the continued cooking and sweating of the middle of my sandwich.

So even though strategies appear at times, I can’t solve all the problems.

At least I know what I want to make for dinner tonight.

Pulled pork.