Pacing

Pacing is the best thing you can do if you have M.E.

It means taking it easy, never doing more than you are capable of, in fact never doing as much as you are capable of.

My specialist (in my teens) said never do anything today that you wouldn't be able to do tomorrow. So if you're having a good day today and feel like doing a bit more than usual, don't!

He also recommended never doing anything for more than 15mins at a time. So you can watch your favourite TV show, but only for 15 minutes, then you have to go and do something else, something completely different like ironing (just an example never happens in this house!).

Pacing as a teenager was relatively easy as I had no commitments, no deadlines, no need to do anything. Having said that I was still pretty hopeless at it. If I was feeling up to it I would watch that whole film, read all of that book I was enjoying, generally not follow the rules.

Pacing with 2 small children underfoot is even harder.
The bare minimum; meals have to be chosen, shopped for (all be it online but with brain fog even this is tough), prepared, cooked. Clothes have to be washed, and the house kept in order. Children need to be delivered to and picked up from school not to mention entertained and refereed!

I am fairly stubborn and a parent, so often feel the bare minimum is not enough. Therefore when I am feeling good I forget all of the rules, we go to the beach, we go to the shops, or to the park, basically I go that extra mile, use up all of my energy to try and make my kids lives that little bit more fun.
This always backfires when I then crash which means even the bare minimum is too much...

Will I ever learn how important pacing is?