After we had Oaklyn and Josh went back to work I had to do the entire day by myself, yes I had help from family but the older Oaklyn got the less help I got. I was so tired at the end of the day, I was just exhausted, overwhelmed and just done. Josh would get home and the house was a disaster, supper was maybe cooked and I felt useless. After they went to bed I was too overwhelmed to even try to deal with the house. I was like screw it, I’ll try again tomorrow. This went on for a month or two and then I just got to a point and was like this isn’t the mom I want to be. I want to be the mom who has energy for their kids, does the laundry right away, has most of the house picked up by the time her husband gets home (not for him, for me, he could care less). 

 

So I woke up the next morning and just decided that is who I’m going to be. As soon as I saw something that had to be done, I just did it, it took two seconds. I would pick something up when I saw it out of place, I would flip the laundry as soon as I saw it needed to be flipped and every time I went up and down the stairs I would bring something that belonged there with me. With doing this, I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t overwhelmed, I had the energy to get all of this stuff done. Just by deciding that’s who I wanted to be, that's who I became and it’s very motivating to keep going. I still let myself have my off days and then I get right back into it. I find I still need the off day because by doing it every single day I feel like I start to get burned out because I am constantly thinking and doing something. Being a stay at home mom is exhausting because you work 14 hour days, 7 days a week, you have to fit a break in there somewhere. If my one or two off days turn into a week then I remember that that isn't who I want to be and I get right back into it. 

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To be clear this is not a perfect system in anyway and I am still constantly overwhelmed and still tired but it is so much better than it was. My overwhelm is usually about the kids, not the housework and it usually happens when the post partum depression kicks in (more on that later). I also hired myself a mother's helper a couple days a week to do the dishes and fold the laundry which doesn't sound like a lot but it helps!