A day in the life of a stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed work from home mom.. read if you dare

Chances are you are here because you are a parent in which case you likely experience many of the same feelings, situations and thoughts I experience.  Operating two large websites, AtlantaMoms.com and TheMommyInsider.com, while caring for two active kids, ages 10 and 3, as well as a home that I feel is too large for us (or for me to clean at least), and taking care of myself, leaves me exhausted by about.. uh.. 9:30a.m. and I hope to change that in the next few months.

Before reading on, please note that..

• I am grateful for my kids and my life.
• I am stressed and overwhelmed and want to change that which is why I’m writing this.

A typical day in my life (if there is such a thing):

• I fall asleep around 1-1:30a.m.
• Wake up around 7:30 to Madelyn poking my face or tickling my ear and she’s not always being cute about it.  My husband gets up with Sebastian and gets him on the bus, thank goodness, so I don’t have to wake up at 6:30.. thank you Tim.
• go to the bathroom and brush my teeth with Madelyn on my heels the entire time
• go downstairs and make breakfast (scrambled eggs, strawberries, waffle, apples, grapes.. not an easy bowl of cereal) for Madelyn
• run upstairs to find clothes for her to wear to school
• give her her breakfast and talk for a few minutes
• take my medicine that I have to take at least 20 minutes before eating
• send Madelyn up to go to the bathroom and brush her teeth
• find stuff for Madelyn’s lunch and pack it
• change out of my pajamas into my ‘preschool drop off clothes’
• get Madelyn dressed. Can take a while depending on if she likes the outfit I picked out or not.
• brush and fix Madelyn’s hair
  • By now I’m usually mildly stressed because chances are Madelyn has had at least one ‘spell’ during all of this whether it was about her clothes, going to the bathroom, not enough strawberries, etc.
• send Madelyn up to tell Tim, asleep, bye before we leave for school
• 8:55a.m. – take Madelyn to school.
• Come home. Clean the kids breakfast dishes, usually empty the dishwasher, pick up the kid’s pajamas that were likely left on the floor, and straighten other random stuff.  By now it’s about 9:45.
• sit down to work at the kitchen or dining room table or in the office if I’m expecting calls.
• 10:30 – oops, I forgot to eat!
• grab a bowl of cereal and go back to work
• sift through and answer emails, publish and update ads on the sites, research and publish events, answer phone calls, write emails, write product reviews
• talk to Tim about his day the day before and/or stuff we need to discuss regarding life and the kids
• eat lunch or a snack
• 12:45 – whoa! It’s time to pick Madelyn up from school!
• 1:15 – Get home with Madelyn.. don’t even think about working right away.  She won’t have it.
  • Tim is getting ready for work at this time.
• 2:00 – Try to get back on the computer.. answer emails, write emails, post updates, etc
  • Tim leaves for work
• 2:40 – Sebastian gets home from school
  • Where the heck did the day go?
• Talk to Sebastian about his day.
• Fix a snack for the kids
• 3:15 – Try to get the kids set up with toys or games so I can work.
• Sneak back to the computer to check and answer emails, write posts, etc..
• Mediate arguments between the kids. Try to get them back on track.
  • By now, I’m usually really fed up and irritated that I’m not able to get any work done.   I think I do a good job of not showing my frustration though.
• 4pm – Go to my mom’s house so the kids and I can see her and I can maybe work for 30 minutes or so, then we eat dinner with her.
  • Sebastian usually does his homework at her house and one of us will check it and help him
• OR.. go to swim class
• OR.. go to gymnastics class
• OR.. go to Scouts
• OR.. stay home and repeat the ‘mediation, play, work’ cycle
• 7:45pm – Get home
• Tell Sebastian to take a shower if he didn’t already at my mom’s house
• Give Madelyn a bath if I didn’t already at my mom’s house
• Have the kids go to the bathroom and brush their teeth
• Read to Madelyn for 25-30 minutes
• Lay in bed with Madelyn and catch up on news (on the iPhone) until she falls asleep.. usually 15 minutes or so.
• 8:45 – check on Sebastian.
• Read tech news to Sebastian if he’s still awake.  This is a new thing he likes me to do.
• 9:00-9:30 – leave Sebastian’s room.  Take a breath.
• Go downstairs and clean dishes, straighten from earlier playing, go through mail
• 10:30ish – Take a shower or bath and hope that Madelyn doesn’t wake up while I’m in the shower.
• Think about laundry and deep cleaning that needs to be done but I’m too tired to do anything.
• Put the MacBook in bed with me and check and answer emails, write, update sites.. you know the drill.
• 11:30pm – Take a sleeping pill when I know Tim is going to be home within an hour or so.  Some people ask why I don’t take a sleeping pill earlier.   I don’t take it earlier because I need to be alert in case one of the kids wakes up, which Madelyn still does.
• Play Marlise Karlin’s Imagine to help me relax and fall asleep.

End of day racing thoughts..

• Is Sebastian’s Boy Scout uniform clean?
• Did I pay Madelyn’s tuition?
• Do the kids have clean clothes for school tomorrow?
• Is Madelyn’s gymnastics class today (thanks Deedra for all your help)?
• Can Tim take Sebastian to computer class Saturday?
• Does Madelyn have Pee Wee Naturalist class this Tuesday?
• When is my next dr. appointment?
• What is Tim’s schedule next week?  When are the kids going to see him next?
• Did I publish the review I wrote earlier today?
• Did I write the newsletter for AtlantaMoms.com or TheMommyInsider.com?
• Did I call the plumber about the leaky pipe (really)?
• Do we have enough milk and eggs?
• Did I hang up the kids clean clothes? Nope, the clean clothes are still in the basket and likely will be for the next few days.

Things I am proud of and that prove I haven’t totally lost my sanity..

• Did I yell at the kids?  No.  Well, maybe sometimes.
• Did I hit the kids?  No.
• Did I read to the kids?  Yes.
• Did I laugh with Sebastian.  Yes, we are good at that.
• Did I tell the kids I love them?  Yes, a lot.
• Did I give the kids hugs?  Lots.

I am extremely stressed.   I wonder from minute to minute, what the next minute will bring.
Will Madelyn freak out because I didn’t give her enough strawberries, or will Sebastian get upset because Madelyn touched his toy?  Will the kids let me work for just 5 more minutes?
Gone are the days when I wonder what the next day, week, or month will bring.. it’s all about the next minute or hour now which stresses me out.

I have barely touched on my life here, but you get the idea and if you’re a parent, your life is probably similar.  I feel overwhelmed, often alone even though I’m happily married, and I know there are things that can be handled better such as getting Madelyn’s school clothes ready the night before.. but I’m too tired to find her clothes the night before.

I am on a mission to be more organized and less stressed as it’s not fair to my kids, myself, or my husband for me to be stressed all of the time. I’ve come to the realization that achieving this will require that I outsource work tasks and/or hire a Mommy’s Helper.

Would outsourcing help?  Why I would like to outsource work and/or hire a Mommy’s Helper:

• The most important reason I want to outsource some work and/or hire a Mommy’s Helper is so that I am more available for my kids and husband and not trying to squeeze a few minutes of work in every chance I get.
• If have help with basic cleaning, the kids laundry, and grocery shopping, I will be less worried/stressed about doing those things in the little time that I have with the kids.
• To help me organize the over 5,000 emails in my in-box, most of them sorted through already and aren’t junk mail.
• My business colleagues deserve better communication on my part.

What’s next in the “A day in the life of a stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed work from home mom” series:

• I love, I miss, and my To Do list

I want to know!

– How do you balance your work and home life?

– What are your favorite online or off-line organizational tools?

– What are some things you do for fun with your kids that take 15-20 minutes?

– What one home organization product can’t you live without?

– Do you have tips or suggestions on things my 10 and 3 year old can do together while I work for 15-20 minutes