Tired

I’m tired today… Let’s face it, I’m tired every day. I really don’t know how you stay-at-home-moms do it! Props, mad props. I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, her sleep last night wasn’t bad, I’m just tired. This motherhood thing is so hard! I have a laundry list of things I need to get done and all I want to do is nap with my little babe.

Mornings are my favorite. We wake up, put on a fresh diaper, breastfeed and she can’t stop smiling and laughing. On days where I don’t have any appointments or plans, I take full advantage of this time together. I will be going back to work and school in just a few weeks and will miss our mornings so much. So do I feel guilty? Absolutely not. The dishes will get done, the laundry will get done, the carpet will get vacuumed…. Eventually. This is more important. Time spent with my daughter will always be a priority. She won’t be a baby forever, but I will have laundry F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

Priorities seem to be a theme this week. Yesterday I felt guilty for taking my little one with me to the salon to get my hair done. She did great for the most part, just got a little fussy but I breastfed and she was fine. I couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt, like I was ruining the experience for someone else. But in reality, all the girls loved oohing and aahing over my girl and I got to leave the salon feeling beautiful. You really can’t put a price on that feeling, so mommas – go get your hair done!

My fiancé got home from his two-week fire assignment on Sunday and told me he had planned on going back to his full time job that Monday. I begged him to stay home with us. He was feeling so much guilt about turning down work and having to make money that I had to actually remind him that taking care of his well being and spending a day with his family was just as important (if not more) than making money. We feel so much pressure as parents to support our families that we forget that part of supporting our family means taking care of ourselves!!!! It’s OK to let yourself have a day off people! Actually, it’s not just OK it’s NECESSARY.

 I realized we hadn’t spent one day of quality time together since she had been born eight weeks ago…. That doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t want to look back on our life together and just remember how hard we worked to survive. I want to have the memories! I’m so tired of people placing judgment and unsolicited advice on us as parents. There is such a thing as overworking yourself. It’s not healthy… it takes a toll on your mind, body and spirit. You suffer, your marriage suffers, your family suffers. Let yourself take a day off, go get a massage, spend money on a nice dinner. Take care of your needs! You won’t have a family to take care of if you aren’t ever around to see them. Do what you need to do for yourself and don’t listen to anyone who makes you feel bad for it.  Marriage and parenting is hard enough as is, we don’t need to make it any harder.

Priorities, people.