Nicholas is 9 months and I'm mostly in a stage of complete delirium. ;) I drink a lot of iced tea (caffeine without the crazy calories of soda pop). I EAT HEALTHY. This is vitally important: too many sugars? You'll crash. Not enough food? You'll crash. I eat oatmeal for breakfast. A lean cuisine meal at work for lunch. And make a decently healthy meal for dinner. I do take my vitamins. (Thanks, Mom!) And I allow my MIL to help now and again so I can take a day and ... nap. Or shop, because that's also theraputic. ;)

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Family Living; Hatfield Style
Jenna

I couldn't even function at my part time job due to lack of sleep...I haven't slept in 2.5 years thanks to my youngest daughter.

Between her and my son and my snoring husband I am a wreck.

All moms are zombies I think.

You are not alone! Even on vacation (in the path of Ernesto, nothing like planning) I am exhausted. Why can't 6 year old twin boys sit still? Our 2 year old daughter is the vision of stability and calm next to these two.

Then work. I haven't even looked at my emails while on vacation. I don't want to know.

Hang in there. You'll get through it.

I hear ya, sisters!

I have a 3 year old autistic son and a lively 8-month daughter. He started pre-K last week, so I have a little bit of a respite, but Christina's making up for her brother and more!

6 year old twin boys???? You have my utmost respect. ;)

Annie
The Frantic Scribe Blog

I do get a bit of a break these days, as my ex (since I got remarried) finally decided he wanted to be a Dad, and has my little guy two evenings a week.

So... work all day, rush to pick up the little guy, come home... now that I have a hubby, I feel compelled to cook a little more (what happened to me!!! I used to prepare 5 course gourmet meals for my friends all the time... now just a rushed email to my best buddies while I scarf cafeteria food over my keyboard at lunch! gah!)

Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
Mistress of the Dorkness

While having two tornadoes as sons can be challenging (such as having to bring them to work for 1/2 the day today and hearing them wrestle in my office while I was in leadership meeting down the hall), nothing beats two adoring boys wanting to hold my hands as we walked to the communter rail. People would do double takes (pun intended) and smile.

However, we are all tired in this. I'm no more so than any one else.

I'm struggling with how to make my blog (http://denyingsoccermom.blogspot.com/) reflect both being a mom and challenges at work without crossing the "dooce" line. Any thoughts?

My blog is also about being a working mother. It's all new landscape to me (one 6 mos old daughter who I still wonder- How did this happen?!). I work out at the gym at my office or near my house either before I pick her up from daycare or I just tote her along. My husband, helps a lot! We have baby sitters we trust now and family and friends that help too. I could NOT do it without them. I subsist on healthy food, junk and caffiene as well as TONS of water!

I also talk a lot about how women can help each other more in my blog and just the day to day insanity and yes, lack of sleep so check it out.

Link Text

Once they go off to college! ;-)

Seriously, I worked full time the whole time that my son was growing up. It gets better! One great leap forward comes when they can fix their own breakfast without pouring milk all over the floor and entertain themselves without destroying anything (including themselves).

One key, I think, is to not overschedule your kids or yourself, especially when they're in elementary and middle school. There's enough to do without having to run from lessons to practices to playdates and back again.

Of course, then they leave for college, and you think "Ah! At last! I can sleep the sleep of the just!"

That's just about when the menopause insomnia hits. ;-)

The Blog: Red Nose
The Book: Girl Clown

Thanks for starting this conversation Kate! Mary, I have to write that one family's overscheduled can be another family's saving moments. Today my guys had their 2nd soccer game plus a clinic later in the afternoon - two solid hours of running, kicking, dribbling, etc.

I readily admit my ambivalence about being the mother of two soccer players (with an eager third coming up). However, they were quietly exhausted the rest of the afternoon. No fights, no taughts to the little sister, just a quiet presence. It was a beau-ti-ful thing.

visit me at Link TextSoccer Mom in Denial

MOMMYZOMBIE
Caffeine keeps me afloat.
caffeinated mommyzombie
arabica black
one cup too many
two cups too strong
I need my coffee
each and every morn
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I hope it gets better-working fulltime, commuting two kids 3 and 1 year olds. I am EXHUASTED. Plus I feel super old-they grey hairs and lines of fatigue are suddenly arriving. This life we lead is a crazy one. I keep thinking there has got to be a better, more simplier way. I think moving away from the NYC commuter zone has got to be an option.

Birdsword

I make a little time for me. I am the mother of one child and often in awe of those who are managing to raise more than one because over the years I have found just the one to be exhausting. Like so many of the mothers here, I blog as well. I often write about the many educational and play resources I have found on the web. I used to sit my child down in front of one of them and get her going and I would sit in the chair behind her with a good book. When she was too young for the computer, I actually read the book to her. She didn't care what it was, she just enjoyed the reading. My daughter is now a teenage National Honor Society, basketball playing, class president, social butterfly. I don't have to sit next to her now at the computer--at least not as much. In other words, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please take a look at the reviewed websites listed in my profile. I think they will help you find a little time for yourself, and enrich your young ones as well.

YouthPlay.org: How I Choose To Play is Serious Business

I can completely relate. Over the weekend, I stopped in a local nail salon to get a manicure. When I was sitting in the massage chair after the manicure (LOVE THAT!), a pregnant woman sat down next to me. You could SO tell that this was her first; she was calm, cool, serene and completely relaxed. She's in for a wild ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way. ;)

My kids are older and things have gotten better but my mom (who is 78) tells me she still feels drained and can't sleep!
So I guess we're in this for life!

Karen
"Life is too short to pout all the time."
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

I wrote about this on both my blog but what do you all say to someone at work (not family or neighbors) who says "You should just stay home and be with your kids"? Aside from the fact that I contribute to the mortgage, I like my professional identity.

While I wanted to yell at her I just mumbled out of the conversation.

visit me at Link TextSoccer Mom in Denial

It is helpful to know there are so many amazing women out there who understand what it feels like.

I'm in my house with three little boys and one big one. It's good to have a community of women in the neighborhood, at work, and online.

Thanks for sharing!!