I am so like my mom in so many ways. One of which is trying to do it all. My mom worked a full time job, did the grocery shopping, cooked all the food (and many many more house and family related things) and still managed to draw and play the drums and garden and make things beautiful everywhere she went.
Now that I’m a parent and have a career and a house I understand just how much she was doing every day. It feels like if I’m capable of doing it I should do it. That way no one else will have to. And perhaps it’s a way I avoid things I may not want to do or think about.
I overdid it this weekend. I’m exhausted. My back is killing me. I got everything done but last night I was so tired I was asleep before Kady even came to bed and missed the few minutes of alone time we have together each day. And today I felt like I was hungover from house work.
It’s hard to draw a line or set a limit when you feel like you can and should be doing more. Laundry piles up. Dog fur swirls like tumble weeds in the Wild West every time a door opens. And the fridge grows emptier while the garbage and yard waste piles up. There’s always one more thing that can be done.
For me I have been trying to set some limits. To accept that I can’t do it all. And to try to spend that time with family or actually fricking resting. I don’t always do a good job. And yesterday I really failed. I did too much. And today my body is suffering the consequences.
It is an ongoing compromise of picking what needs to be done and letting the rest go. And it’s super important to give myself time to rest and relax with my family. After all that’s what all of this is for anyway.
How do you strike a balance?
