Tired: Accurate Definitions of Terms Associated with Parenting, Part 1

Tired is a holdover, cornerstone of make it stop and leave me be, point of non-articulation does not bend does not ease. Except when tired, as defined by the effort of your smile under the sun while your child shrieks watch me! and hops the sprinkler in her swimsuit and you have a cool drink sweating in your hand; as when you watch the minute hand move on the clock in your mind to the moment when you will right turn the faucet, gather the hose and your daughter, peel the suit skin away turning her from seal to girl, tumble her under clear water this time with Barbies and a set of pizza cups from your college days; as when counting down to the second her soft head meets her cat pillow and the last thoughts wander in circles from her mouth. Tired is after you have packed the lunches and programmed the coffee maker, but before you tuck yourself between the sheets. Tired is any time other than when you should be sleeping.

image from pixabay.com

How would you define tired? What other words should be defined according to their association with parenting?