Kylie's Comment... Back to work - struggle of the juggle
01-February-2012
Recently in News In Mind we have covered a few stories on the mental health of mothers and the effects of working versus not working etc. With my return to work this week I’m about to learn first hand the struggle of the juggle.
For years we have known the benefits of getting the balance right between your family, work, friends, and hopefully even a little time for rest and recuperation. But has this ever really been achievable?
I know I struggled with this even before my child came along and now it’s even harder.
Not to mention still having time to pay attention to your partner and nurture this relationship while also trying to fit in exercise and enough sleep, which we know is extremely important for your physical and mental health.
Being a mother comes with it’s own set of high expectations – i.e. ensuring a good attachment with your child, beginning education early, fostering a healthy self-esteem and emotional expression but not letting the child be the boss, spending quality time with them but not too much in order to foster independence and not letting them watch too much TV or eat the wrong foods etc. etc. etc.
Quite frankly it all gets a bit ridiculous and many a time I have been in sessions with other mothers who are stressed about their perceived lack of time management or their child meeting their milestones or what other people would think about their child’s tantrum and so on.
So let’s begin the conversation.
To all you working Mums and Dads our there, what tips do you have for others and me around time management and getting the balance right?
Whilst I’m going to try to do my best not to expect too much of myself and to understand that this is a normal situation to get stressed about, any tips or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated.
Kylie Hobbs is Principal Psychologist at ASSIST Psychological & Counselling Services.
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