If you have young children & a chronic illness how do you find time to be you?

[GrouchyKiwi]

I feel a bit like I'm losing myself at the moment.

I have three children (10, 7 and 5), and home educate them.

By the time we've got them into bed I'm too tired to do anything except aimlessly scroll through the internet, or watch TV.

I have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (the hypermobile type) so fatigue is a constant companion anyway.

I started doing a botany course right at the beginning of the pandemic and have basically struggled to get anywhere with it since then. Focus is completely gone. I'm probably too old and too tired to learn anything, really, even though I want to.

So I guess I'm looking for advice on how to find time for myself. I used to go to choir once a week but I'm too tired for that too.

Right now I feel like all I do is live for my children. I love them, but I want to be Me too.

I completely understand. Mine are at high school but they still need us.
I also have EDS (hypermobile) and am waiting for my daughter to be officially diagnosed.
Do you feel like its just time to be alone or is do you want to go back to choir?
Can you plan a quieter day on the day you have choir? Step back and look at your week written down and see how you could batch cook dinners and other little time/energy savers.
Hmm time i took my own advice.

It's a tough road, isn't it. I keep thinking that when they're teens they won't need so much of my attention, but it becomes harder for them emotionally, doesn't it?

The problem with my choir day is that the kids also have Cubs/Beavers so it's a bit difficult already. When I was doing it the children hadn't started yet. DH takes them and would deal with all of it by himself if I did manage to get back to choir.

What I really want to do is find the time and energy to pursue at least one of the interests I have. Batch cooking etc might help. Getting more organised in general. And probably better weather would help too, to be fair.

Are you trying to do the same kind of thing, marbles?