exhaustion

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Home : 2003 : January : 23

exhaustion
By Julianne

I can relate. I've had health problems the past few years and am working a half-time contract as a result. I can vouch for the fact that half-time is much less stressful. Is that an option for you? If not, there are some
other things I did to keep the pressure off.
My husband and all three kids each have one night a week when they are responsible for cooking dinner. That's four nights I don't have to plan or prepare food. They tell me what they're cooking and I shop for it once a week. If your kids are too young for this, at least your husband should be cooking a couple of nights. We also get

fast food one night a week because, hey, that's what it's for!

We don't try to keep the house as clean as my mother kept hers. Once every couple of weeks we reserve a couple of dedicated hours and EVERYONE cleans something. It all gets done, and the stuff that doesn't get done - doesn't.

When I get home from work I spend a serious hour sitting down. When my kids were little I would spend that time reading to them, listening to them tell me about their day or even just watching cartoons with them. After that hour of rest I felt like clearing off the table and getting to dinner plans.

On long weekends and holidays I tried very hard not to bring home anything at all to do. I didn't always succeed, and I still find myself thinking about school on vacation (as in "what can I buy here for my classroom???") but it has helped to make it a policy not to plan stuff for the breaks.

I save major projects for the summer. We don't paint rooms, clean out cupboards or hold garage sales unless it's June, July or August.

Finally, leave your husband with your own kids for two or three days. When you come back ask him how much energy it took to look after them. Then ask him to multiply that by 10 and he'll get an understanding of what your days are like. I am lucky. My husband is extremely thoughtful and probably does more of the household chores than I do. He doesn't see housework as my job. Men should take lessons in that kind of attitude, don't you think?