General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Latest Onion: Where Satire Ends and Crying At the Cold Truth of it All Begins. [View all]IdaBriggs
(10,559 posts)After the 'Neighbor Girl' incident last June, I was going absolutely nuts pulling double duty (working a full time job, taking care of my family/kindergarten age twins) and devoting every spare minute to the Project. I would literally cry with exhaustion, wake up at 2:30 in the morning (after three or four hours of sleep) and *still* beat myself up about how I wasn't doing "enough" --
Finally, about a month or so ago, I hit "the wall" -- this Project isn't a sprint, it is a Freaking Marathon. I had asked for help prior, but the good folks in the Project are extremely busy dealing with children with varying levels of disability, and finally, I just had to say ENOUGH! I can give *this much* of my time on a daily basis, and then I have to have time for *me* and *my family* -- so I have worked on limiting myself.
It isn't "perfect" - I am exhausted, but trying to do just three or four "major" things a week (instead of seven or eight) seems to be helping a little. Of course, I am still constantly beating myself up about how I am not doing "more" but ....
And the families in the Project who are seeing benefit are inspiring as everything. We've also got real live Researchers looking at our results; now we just have to keep pushing things forward.
This week I am only behind on updating approximately 125 records, scheduling a conference call about infant mortality intervention, sending a thank you email / more detail / contact information to a major player in the research community, following up with an NIH perinatology guy (whose research is going in the wrong direction), having a conference call with two manufacturers regarding laboratory assays, following up on the sensory processing/integration issues, putting together a "detail questionnaire" for missing data, modifying the report parameters for better detail in the communication and cognitive changes, working on the paper tieing everything together, following up with the FAQ update project with one of the parents who volunteered, and writing up the description for the four hours of presentation I will be a part of at a conference in April.
It isn't *all* going to get done.
I've only been at my "paying" job since 6:00 a.m. today. Every time I want to "quit" my "volunteer passion" job, I am reminded of the cost if I stop: dead babies, crippled children, and devastated families.
But I have to put a limit on things, otherwise I will simply NOT be able to see this through....
The Onion hit hard this time. My "reward" is unlikely to be monetary. Please, God, let it all be worth it....