Tired and overwhelmed - Page 2

[*bejeweled*]

Yes! I love this.

[QUOTE=babynatasha;15125702] He used to sit around and not help sometimes, but I made it clear that this is a two person job and he has to help.

[Hannah'sMommy]

babynatasha: wow, no kidding, our stories do sound very similar!! I've been doing (or trying to do) pretty much the same weekly schedule that you are doing. I think the hardest thing is that DH doesn't really realize just how much we have to take on as WOHM. I've tried explaining this to him without completely brushing aside all he does... but it's just a fact, moms have more to do! I also feel bad about leaving DD with DH to go out and run errands or something, so I'm trying to work on that one. Because really, we're both parents

I'm just now starting to work on trying to be more efficient at cleaning and getting things done on the weekends so that we do have time to relax and enjoy being a family. The weeks that I have been able to get dinners made on Sunday are wonderful because we don't have to cook during the week, and there aren't many dishes!

One thing is that MDC has been so great at helping me with ideas to make my life easier during the week Plus, the support is so nice and knowing that I'm not the only one going through this!

ETA: I don't like dog and cat hair balls floating around either, especially with DD crawling all over!

[babynatasha]

You know what even better than one kid? When you have two and your DH's life IS effected. DH used to say to me after we had DD, "do you mind if I go out for a bike ride?" and I would feel bad saying "yes, I do, I want some free time too." Now that we have two kids, he has one and I have the other. I bought him a kiddie seat for the bike, now he has no excuse not to take DD with him I thought the first kid was the hardest for me. DH says no, #2 was the hardest. But then I realized, with #1 my life was impacted. By #2 I was already in the groove, I had given up everything I had to, I had gotten used to having a kid attached to me all the time, I had already adjusted my life to account for this. With #1 DH's life was impacted, but not so much. When #2 arrived he had to give up some things himself, call me mean, but I don't really feel all that bad

You are SO not the only one going though this, although it can feel that way. I have no friends who have my lifestyle. All my friends took a long maternity leave or are SAHMs. Me? With DD I was back at work the following week, with her with me. With DS, I had a little more time off, I took two weeks (Thats just the price I pay to own a small company) Sometimes I wish I had more people around me who understand what it is like to be a Working Mom and to come home and do all the stuff SAHM's do as well. Because lets face it, just because I'm working all day, doesn't mean I can afford for someone else to do that stuff!

[laurabfig]

I am right there with all of you. The weekly load of work just to keep a house and family going is too much for one person to feel the full load of. I recently read the book "Getting to 50/50" which was written by 2 professional working mothers about how to manage a family and full-time work. It was SUCH a helpful read for me, and I've been telling all my working mom friends to read it. Most importantly, it doesn't have a negative tone about "dads not doing enough" or whatever, but basically highlights how much dads have to offer their children and provides suggestions for how to split household work, child care responsibilities, etc. between the 2 parents. (Apparently it is not just us that are feeling the weight of everything....it is a common mom phenomenon.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree with everyone: go for the housekeeper. I justify it by the fact that I work almost full time, and for the amount of money we pay to have bi-weekly cleaning, it is SO worth the sanity it brings us. My husband and I have stopped arguing about a LOT of the household stuff since we know the main jobs will get done every 2 weeks now.

Also- it does get better as the kids get older!

[Hannah'sMommy]

Well, we have a housecleaner starting today, cleaning every other week. I'm so excited! She'll be able to clean the bathrooms/bathtubs, appliances, etc. that I really don't have time to do. We're lucky to just get the basic stuff done!

We're also working towards me being a SAHM. That is what I ultimately want! I had to take yesterday off since our babysitter had to close at the last minute (her child was sick). I totally loved being home all day with our DD and she was SUPER happy that she had mommy all day!