Spoon theory is usually spoken about in relation to those with Chronic illness, such as fibromyalgia, ME, migraines.
It is the theory that a person has so many “spoons” to use in a day and that some tasks take more spoons than others. So, getting dressed may take one spoon whereas the school run may take three.
And that once spoons are used then fatigue and other symptoms take over and the person is “down” for a period.
I think this can also be transferred to new parenting. It’s well known that a lack of sleep impacts upon physical and mental functioning and new parents are lacking in sleep. However, new parents can become quite resilient to the lack of sleep.
Lots of new parents report feeling guilty for not being able to do everything they feel they should be able to. But everyone has an amount of spoons. Maybe you have 10 spoons a day, take a couple off for a bad nights sleep, and you can see how everyone has limits. This is ok and healthy.
Some days you may have more spoons so can do more and other days are depleted. Parenting isn’t always easy and takes energy.
If we think about everyone having a level of spoons then we can begin to understand why some days seem better than others and how we can accept a day where things aren’t happeningZ
Some days have more spoons, some days have more stressors, some people have more spoons.
What takes your spoons?
What gives you spoons?
