I remember when I was a school-aged child. We did not have central air conditioning in our house, but my parents did have a window air conditioning unit in their bedroom. Therefore, when it got really hot in the summer, my sister and I would sleep on the floor of my parents’ room in sleeping bags.
When I was in high school, we got central air. I could sleep in my own bed all summer.
As a college student, living in the dorm for three years, I did not have central air. We had box fans sitting in our windows, turned at full blast just so you could get somewhat comfortable at night, but somehow it did not seem so bad because there were 300 girls living in the same building feeling the same thing.
Other than the occasional camping trip, where I volunteered to sleep outside in very hot weather, I have been living the central-air-life for the last 22 years.
I have become accustomed to the pleasant comfort of not sticking to the furniture… until last month.
Our electric breaker went bad and we had a brief period of no power, which meant no air conditioning. We were able to get partial power back, but no air conditioning. It was 90 degrees outside with a heat advisory. We had no power for one night and then partial power with no air conditioning for about 5 days.
There was a lot of yelling at our house during those days.
During this time, I was not my best self. I was irritable. Yelled at my kids. Meals were not perfectly well-rounded and balanced. And the house was a disaster.
My hope is that no one passed judgment on my entire life based on this one period of time. Therefore, I would challenge everyone to not be quick to judge, as we have all had an experience in our lives that cause us to not be our best self. Before passing judgment on another mom’s parenting, cooking skills, or work habits, we need to consider that we may not see the entire picture.
Whether it be a sick child, aging parent, financial problems, devastating health news, or having the air conditioning out, we all have something happen from time-to-time that makes it difficult to be our best self.
Let’s give each other a break.
