Ask Amy: How Can I Get Out of My Mom Funk?

Published: June 6, 2022, 9 a.m.

b'A listener wrote:\\nI am in a mom funk. I always wanted to be a mom, but I underestimated the amount of work and sacrifice it takes to be a mom. I\\u2019m exhausted. I feel like I never get a chance to catch my breath and be ready to be a mom the next morning when my kids wake up, and I spend most of the day with my kids just trying to make it to bedtime. \\nMy kids are seven and four, and I really thought that parenting would have gotten easier by now... but I feel just as burned out and depleted as when they were toddlers, perhaps even more now that they both talk (non-stop) and have so many opinions about everything. Not to mention the endless tantrums and meltdowns which I thought would have ended at least two years ago.\\nMy husband works long hours and I\\u2019m solo-parenting 90% of the time. When my husband is home he needs to sleep and wants to relax and has so little time to be with the kids, let alone actually help with any house work.\\nHow do I get through this and still be a good mom at the same time? Being a parent right now feels hopeless and endless and relentless and I\\u2019m stuck. Sometimes I find myself wondering why I had kids at all when I feel this depleted.\\nAmy explains that this "mom funk" has another name: burnout. And it\'s not that we need to adjust our mindset and just push through it--it\'s that our practical circumstances need to change.\\n\\nHere are links to some of the resources Amy mentions in the episode:\\nBurnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Amelia and Emily Nagoski\\nThe WHO\'s updated definition of burnout\\n\\nSpecial thanks to our sponsor: \\nPinhook Kentucky bourbon is the perfect gift for the guy who has everything! Each year\'s vintage is a little different and features an up-and-coming thoroughbred on its label. Text "laughing" to (859) 800-7848 to get connected with a personal shopper- or visit pinhookbourbon.com/laughing to chat with a one right on their website! \\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'