Cinderella Syndrome By Micah Klassen A few weeks ago, during a text conversation with a Mom friend, I jokingly told her that she could call me “Cinderella”. We were updating each other on how our days were going and what part of the mothering routine we were wading through, and I was feeling pretty down about the fact that the boys and I would be stuck at home . . . again. Earlier that morning, my husband and I had rushed everyone out of the house into cold, miserable weather to make it to a doctor’s appointment on time, leaving a trail of mess behind us in the process. Our youngest son was due for his eighteen-month shot and after successfully making it through the appointment with only a few tears shed, we decided to celebrate his bravery with a coffee stop at Tim Horton’s before going our separate ways. But as you may have guessed, this well-intentioned plan ended with a runaway toddler chase, inevitable meltdowns, and both of us wrestling resistant bodies back into car seats before the coffees had even been half drunk. So after a quick kiss goodbye from my husband, I heaved myself half-heartedly into the driver’s seat and glanced in the rearview to confirm a niggling suspicion — both boys were displaying obvious signs of a head cold after having had the flu only a couple weeks prior. I sighed, wrestling with the disappointment of having to pull out of playgroup plans yet again on a day I’d really been looking forward to some adult interaction. And to make matters worse, I’d had a pretty rough anxiety attack earlier in the week which I was still navigating the aftermath of, mentally and emotionally. While I sat waiting at a stoplight on the way home, staring through the rain splattering my windshield and listening to one of my children wail loudly “I don’t want to go home!” I felt what I imagine Cinderella must’ve felt on that crucial night when everyone else was enjoying themselves at the ball and she was stuck at home, cleaning. Bitterness, frustration, despondency . . . it bubbled just under the surface like lava, ready to erupt.
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