Sometimes you imagine packing your suitcase and heading far, far away. Just for a day or two, because it’s clear that after not even three hours, you’d already miss your little ones. You’re not a bad person, and you’re not going through an existential crisis either. Take a deep breath—you’re just burned out, girl. You just need a break, and that it lasts a little longer than the time it takes to take a bath.
- Take a couple of minutes to step back and really appreciate everything you’ve done and everything you juggle every day. Starting with creating a little human being right inside your own body. You put your uterus through hell for almost a year—throwing up your guts, having your organs squeezed, no longer able to move comfortably or even breathe as well as before. Then you brought that baby into the world. We know what a feat that is—I don’t even need to elaborate on that—any more than I need to mention the weeks following childbirth, a.k.a., “a diaper would’ve been easier”!
These days, you're on the go pretty much all day long; as soon as the alarm goes off, go, go, go!
Getting the oldest one dressed, who suddenly doesn’t like the clothes she picked out herself the day before. Waking up your youngest, for whom sleeping was the last thing on his mind in the middle of the night but who, now that it’s time to get going, is sleeping as soundly as the Percé Rock. Managing to get them to eat breakfast, even though they systematically turn down everything you offer them. Rushing to the car only to end up running back upstairs for the forgotten pacifier. Going back up a second time for the stuffed animal that fell on the stairs. Oh! And your cell phone… Awèye Mom, get moving! I won’t even mention the solid career you’re trying to build for yourself, or the wardrobe that goes with it—which you’re trying to put together despite your post-baby belly. I won’t even mention the workouts you’re struggling to squeeze into your crazy schedule. Because a good mom is successful, looks great, and has energy to spare.
Between you and me, just forget all that. I know everything you do in a day—and that’s not even counting everything that’s going through your head 24 hours a day. I know you deserve much more than just a tip of the hat; here, take a torrential downpour of hats!
Yes, you’re grateful for how lucky you are, and you even regularly think of all the women who can’t experience this. You realize that everything you’re going through, surrounded by your little ones, is worth its weight in gold, and you wouldn’t change a thing about your life. But hey, that doesn’t take away from the many sacrifices you make. You’re not ungrateful; you’re not in burnout, nor are you losing your mind. You're just fed up, girl. And you have every right to be.
So go stay at a hotel for a night to relax, or treat yourself to a day alone at the spa. You have just as much right to feel burned out as you do to take steps to stop feeling that way. After all, you’re doing this for your little ones, too. So take a deep breath, girl. You’re hot—period.