Land Mines

My life has been filling with land mines lately.

My dad's prognosis
My new family relationships
My old family relationships
My job's intensity
My administrator's distance
My team that isn't
My self-perceptions
My battle with depression
My co-dependency
My kids' neediness
My dog's puppiness
My dwindling 403B
Joe's lack of a job
My exhaustion

I've been carefully acknowledging the land mines
Yet have avoided stepping on them
For fear of defeat.

Tonight
I stepped on a landmine.
Literally.

I was barefoot and stepped in a pile of
soft, squishy dog poop...

while taking out my dog
after bathing my kids
after breaking up their fights
after serving them snacks
after helping with homework
after driving to Hinckley
after leaving school early
after meeting with teammates
after getting up early
after sleeping seven hours
after putting my kids to bed
after bathing my children
after conferencing with parents
after teaching children all day long.

I started crying.
Not just crying.
Wailing.
Bawling.
Weeping.
Sobbing.

My foot full of poop...
Proving that I can't always
sidestep the land mines.

I survived the explosion.

Metaphorical.