trying to process

[Tinkerbell]

Mom just sighed. “Okay. Well, I’m glad you’re there safe and sound, but please tell your father to call me as soon as he gets a chance.”
I promised that I would, but as I hung up, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of exhaustion. I didn’t really want to deal with parental drama on top of every¬thing else I was trying to process.??

[SoothingDave]

Not a teacher.

He has many things on his mind, things he is worried about, things he has to remember, etc. In short, things his mind is processing. (Think of the mind as a computer. What is the central part of a computer? A Central Processing Unit (CPU).

[2006]

Mom just sighed. “Okay. Well, I’m glad you’re there safe and sound, but please tell your father to call me as soon as he gets a chance.”
I promised that I would, but as I hung up, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of exhaustion. I didn’t really want to deal with parental drama on top of every¬thing else I was trying to process.??

"trying to process" means 'trying to understand and maybe also respond to/deal with' everything going on in my life at this time.

2006