meowsyisrecovering:

Explaining spoon theory!

Hi! I use a method called spoon theory to explain how much energy I have during the day, and why I struggle sometimes to do basic tasks.

This explaination should be simple enough that even a 5 year old will understand, because this is how I explained it to a 5 year old. Whom then brought me actual spoons from their cupboard.

So 1. We don’t mean actual spoons. We mean energy. In this I use both spoons and money to represent energy

Think of it this way, everyday you wake up with [1000] spoons if you are neurotypical. Or have a normal amount of energy. Some people get more, but I get less. In fact, I personally get about [100] a day to do the same tasks a normal person does. Each task will take a certain amount of spoons. Once you’re out? Well, most are out. Thats it thats the end wait until tomorrow to get more. Some will continue doing things, but have those things taken out of tomorrows spoons.

Lets switch to money for a moment. Most of us know how banking works, so this should make it fairly clear!

You go into the bank each morning and recieve a check for [$1000] hooray! You pay $0.25 to get out of bed, $2.50 for the laundry and so on. You make it through the day just fine and you get the same amount the next day. This rarely changes.

I personally on the other hand, stumble into the bank to recieve [$100] to do the same amount of things that you do in the day. That’s one tenth of what you have. So I get pickier with my spending. I overlook smaller tasks if I have to.

And if I run out? I can wait until tomorrow, or I can go into debt and keep doing things. But that debt comes out of tomorrows pay out. The other thing is, The bank gets a shortage or a mixup, and the amount I get can vary from day to day. One day I may have my standard amount, another I may have half of that. I know. I have a terrible bank.

Thing is, I can’t switch for some reason

This is more common than you think, and hopefully this helps explain to Non-spoonies what we mean when we say we are out of spoons.