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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not have any idea how to cope?

82 replies

EssieTregowan · 16/02/2017 21:21

I'm currently a SAHM although all three dc are at school, I have very poor mental health and have managed to stabilise it over the last few months by carefully factoring in A LOT of downtime. Dont get me wrong, I'm not sitting on my arse all day, but DH basically does the evening shift at home and picks up quite a lot of slack at the weekends.

His job is quite senior and they have a huge project due in the next six months. He has been 'asked' to work overtime to implement this. He already does a bit, like three hours on a Sat/Sun from home (he gets up early to do this), but he's now keen to, and basically has to do six hours both weekend days (he'll work 6am-12pm) and an extra couple of hours per day.

He has asked me if I can let him abdicate all housework responsibility while the overtime is needed. I am of course very happy to do this, in theory, but I'm panicking a bit about how I'm actually going to do it.

I currently manage to keep the house and kids ticking over, although we are constantly on the back foot with things like washing and there is always something to do. He currently does things like the bins, the garden, baths the youngest, cooks when I can't, does bedtime when I need to go to bed early, runs the hoover round at the weekend, stuff like that.

I'm probably being a bit pathetic but I'm panicking now about how it's going to work. I have my moments where I clean the entire house and get through a weeks washing in two days, but they are few and far between. More normal is doing the breakfast dishes after the school run and then having a nap until lunchtime Blush. I also rely on him a lot to remember appointments and help with homework, and he won't really be available for this.

Are we fucked? I hate that I'm so fucking useless but we had a good system that worked. I need to entirely rethink stuff.

Please give me any advice you can, or just tell me to woman the fuck up (kindly though or I'll cry).

OP posts:
skerrywind · 16/02/2017 22:30

Are you getting help or treatment for your mental health?

Fingalswave · 16/02/2017 22:31

I second bumsex's idea about wet wipes - not great for the environment - but so much easier than cloth and bucket when lacking in energy

And I'm going to steal Gazeldas idea about urgent/ med urgent/ low priority tasks

EssieTregowan · 16/02/2017 22:32

This is all really helping, thank you.

Wrt the overtime, it's just sort of expected that every few years they'll have a mad push to get a project out of the door. The money is great, and especially when working from home it's fine in terms of breaks etc. He's under strict instructions from me to fuck it off if he burns out, he won't get sacked or anything but it might impact future pay rises. It's actually not a bad company to work for in terms of flexibility and extras so it's swings and roundabouts

OP posts:
Mistressiggi · 16/02/2017 22:33

You need to shift your perspective. If you can do the work yourself then great, but if you cannot then paying for outside help is a kindness for everyone It makes no sense to say you would feel bad paying when you should do it, if in fact it just falls to your dh. If you can't do it you can't, but if you can find a creative way around it then everyone benefits.

skerrywind · 16/02/2017 22:33

OP I remember from another thread that you drink quite heavily- perhaps that's an area you could tackle?

EssieTregowan · 16/02/2017 22:35

Hi Skerry, I have lots of support, therapy two or three times a week, great psychiatrist and GP as well as a CPN.

My drinking is under control, I'm not completely abstinent but I only drink on a weekend now and nowhere near the volume it was.

OP posts:
skerrywind · 16/02/2017 22:37

I am sure you are aware that drinking can cause anxiety.

bumsexatthebingo · 16/02/2017 22:38

Take what advice is helpful op but some people on here are suggesting daily schedules that are more than I do in a week and no-one has died and my house is perfectly well presented.
Food deliveries and a big family planner are great ideas. We've got a big calendar that everyone has a column on and you can write what each person has on that day.

SillyOldUncleFeedle · 16/02/2017 22:39

You may find discussing this with your MH team more helpful then. They will know your needs and be able to advise you accordingly.

Ipsomatic · 16/02/2017 22:39

I'm sorry to hear that you are in this position. I'm in a similar state, having burned out after ds had big sleep problems as a baby.

Is it absolutely necessary for your dh to do all those extra hours? It seems far too much to me and might make him ill too, which would be bad.

The only other advice I can offer over what's been said before is that we have found it very helpful to buy robots that do housework. We have the following:

Two robot vacuum cleaners (one upstairs and one downstairs, notionally, but I move them around a lot)

self-cleaning oven

washing machine and tumble dryer

dishwasher

we used to have a robot lawnmower, but it made our grass grow too fast and we all got hayfever, so it is gone now.

Wood floor cleaner robot is called and iRobot Braava and is great.

We have two fridges and two freezers so that I don't waste energy micro-managing the food.

We get all our food shopping delivered and we have amazon prime set up to we can order things for quick delivery if we get stuck. I get almost everything delivered. The only think I have to go out for is prescriptions.

I have a rota as people have suggested, which helps a lot.

I do clothes folding while listening to whale music, and that is what passes for meditation for me.

I also wonder about getting a person in to help, but then the stress of having to deal with a person always puts me right off the idea. I'd love to hear further ideas. Thanks for asking this question. The answers encouraged me no end.

Livinghappy123 · 16/02/2017 22:47

I home ed and have a cleaner at the weekend. I need her to retain my sanity. I have 6 kids and yes they do help out and dh does what he can too but the cleaner gives me a mental break - I'm not having to nag anyone and jobs get done. I don't earn much as I can only work part time but my cleaner is worth every penny. xxx

notagiraffe · 16/02/2017 22:54

Hi OP
Can I chip in?
First, I think, prioritise your own physical health. MH problems take a massive toll on physical health and it took me years to realise that caring for the physical side of MH left in in a far better state to deal with day to day life. So stock up on vitamins, iron supplements, fresh fruit and veg, any herbal remedies you trust, and drink loads of water. These will give back some of the energy that mental illness takes away, and so it will be a bit easier for you to find energy to tackle basic tasks. Try and start or end each day with a shower or bath. It relaxes you and wakes you up.

As for routines, maybe take a look at the Flylady threads on here, or on Flylady's website. I used to follow it and still use a few techniques of hers.

Set up a very simple morning routine. A good one is: on your way downstairs when you wake up each morning, bring down a laundry load
e.g. Mon - dark
Tues - pale
Wed - white
Thur - towels
Fri - bedlinen
Sat - school uniform
Sun - wool wash

Just stuff the wash in first thing, then fix breakfast for the DC etc.
Once you've dropped DC at school, clear the kitchen and transfer the washload to the dryer or hang it out. Final part of the routine is get something out of the freezer for tonight's dinner, or if you don't have something in the freezer, decide now what you'll eat, and make a shopping list while you have a tea or coffee, and stick it in your bag.
While you're ill, it's a really good idea to make sure that at least 50% of all main meals are either good quality ready meals or so easy you can prep them in 5 mins. Keep it simple with shop bought lasagnes and pizzas, curry sauces with diced meat and pre-prepped veg etc.

That's it. Work over for the morning, if you are ill. Just relax, or work on getting better (I used to spend hours every day meditating, walking, reading self-help books etc to get well.)

Then at lunch time, do another mini routine. A good one is Flylady's 5-minute room rescue. Set a kitchen timer for 5 mins and tidy one room only until it goes off. Do big, visible stuff, not fiddly stuff. Hang up coats, pair shoes, wipe surfaces, plump up cushions, toss out rubbish and newspapers etc. It's astounding how much you can do in five minutes. Revolutionised my attitude to coping with housework.

After lunch do another 5-minute room rescue and then take the afternoon off until you have to leave to pick up your youngest. If you need to shop for dinner, do it on the way to pick up or if they like grocery shopping (weirdly mine always did), go home via the shops.

When you get back home from school pick up, do another routine for 15 mins. It helps DC to learn it. It is: unpack DC's school bag - check for forms to fill in, party invites to reply to, library books etc, and then sort out the bag for tomorrow. Empty packed lunch box and water bottle and put in dishwasher. Put in anything they need for next day (gym kit, money, forms, school books etc) and hang it by the door. Make sure they help do this. Then sit down together with a snack and watch TV or whatever you like to do at that time. Even if you go home via the park or a friend's house, always hold onto that 15 minute routine. Set the timer if it helps.

Get the teens to do their own 15 minute after school routine, sorting out uniform and packing their bag for next day.

And that's it. That's all you need to do. At some point in the day or evening, you'll need to fold the day's laundry load and sort it into piles for eahc person to take upstairs.
But if you stick to this routine: two 15 min routines and two 5-min room rescues every day, you will get on top of it all. The family will have clean clothes, freshly made food, school stuff organized and the main living areas will be reasonably presentable.
And then you can get in a cleaner to do the main bulk of the physical work - the hoovering and ironing and cleaning bathrooms etc. Don't feel guilty. Loads of SAHMs without MH problems have cleaners - why should you feel you don't deserve one?

bumsexatthebingo · 16/02/2017 23:00

notagiraffe has good advice. And I'd even say the room rescues are not essential if you pick up after yourself as you go along and get the kids to tidy their own mess.

bumsexatthebingo · 16/02/2017 23:03

And definitely invest in a robot hoover. I love mine and it was surprisingly cheap from Amazon.

bumsexatthebingo · 16/02/2017 23:05

Much cheaper than the ones in that link that has appeared by magic in my post in fact! (When did that start happening btw?).

ExplodedCloud · 16/02/2017 23:21

Could you book a cleaner to come in while you're at a therapy session once or twice a week? At least then you won't be sat there while they're cleaning feeling awkward. Plus whoever's cleaning will be earning money. They don't necessarily care why!

unlucky83 · 16/02/2017 23:54

Deep breath - you can do this....
First household organisation. I use technology.
I use google calendar and a to do app (tick tick) and google keep.
You can share the calendar with other google accounts - so the rest of the family.
Put everything on it - even regular things - like DCs activities. You can set them to repeat every week etc so you enter them once. And you can set notifications - I get an email the day before and also you can get it to email you your daily agenda every day...
(I also put MOT, Car tax, Cat worming etc reminders on there - even the dates passports run out 10yrs later...)

Go through their school bags every day when they get home and deal with notes etc immediately. Same with activities - have a bag for every activity.
So eg a birthday invite - check calendar, add to calendar, text acceptance, add buy card & present to your do to list (with a date - and I have a shopping category that I add things like presents to - things you don't usually buy often -like new bedding or shoe polish or ....) and wrap present (have/need paper).
I then scan/take a photo of the invite and put it into google keep and bin the paper copy. Anything that needs signing - it gets signed, scanned, into keep and back into the bag to go back. Same with payments for things. And any kit for activities gets put back into the activity bag when washed etc. (As does gym kit for school but I have more than one set so dirty out, clean in - ready to go back to school)
Newsletters - go through and all dates onto calendar - if something different is happening at a regular activity - they need to go somewhere different or take something special or or it isn't on one week change it on your calendar for that day (and I write eg No Brownies so it isn't just not on the calendar, you know it isn't on) , then scan newsletter and into Keep for reference. Bin the paper.

Your teen dcs could probably have google calendar too - so add things to that themselves.
Lunch money do on a Friday - so you aren't scrabbling for change on Mon am - or writing a cheque at the last second cos you forgot before.
Household bills - where possible set up direct debits ...and use internet banking for things you can't. And have a day a month where you pay regular things that you can't or don't want to pay by direct debit. (I do my credit card bill cos I want to check it through and pay for DCs music lessons (don't get invoiced and it varies every month) on the 1st of the month)

If you do that and stick to it things don't build up and become daunting and you have more brain space - you don't have a pile of papers you need to go through and worrying you've forgotten or missed something...

Housework wise - do a menu plan, a rotating 4 weekly one - so you know what you have to do for each meal. And if you aren't up to to it have a couple of ready meals (homemade batch cooked or bought) in the freezer.

Do a regular online shop - once you have your favourites list if nec you can just tick all and order -so you'll have something. Maybe try and get it delivered when your teens are around so they can help put it away and if you can't face interacting with someone you only need to do for as long as it takes to sign (or maybe when DH is around?)
Have a weekly rota and try and stick to it - if you do things regularly they never get too bad - so if you are really struggling you could miss a week but better if you can just do the minimum - so 'clean bedroom' don't change sheets, just tidy up a bit and run vacuum in middle of floor (not under anything etc) - and when you are feeling more motivated do it more thoroughly.

Washing I don't like doing daily washing as you then always have washing on the go - I have a washing day (Sunday -cos it fits into our schedule) when I do most of the washing, empty the baskets. I get it all washed and dried in a day (have a tumble drier). The next day is ironing (but I don't anymore!) and putting away day - I put everything away. Again no washing mountains that need sorting out - something to worry about. (If you do wash everyday -still have an empty the baskets day and a everything away day...)
Finally (and I know this might make you feel like hitting me!) if it is depression try and get out for a 10 min or so walk everyday. Getting out and moving really does help lift your mood....make you feel better.
But I also know that can be an impossible thing to do - when you are struggling to even get out of bed....even if you can only make it to the bottom of your path and back - do try.

EmiliaAirheart · 17/02/2017 00:46

To the point your finances allow, you should be paying for services that your family needs and neither your nor your husband can do. This is not being selfish or something you should feel guilty about. To the contrary, it would only be selfish to refuse to pay for help, if the only alternatives are that stuff doesn't get done and your children suffer, or your husband is forced to juggle even more.

spooniestudent · 17/02/2017 01:48

I have physical and mental health problems and really struggle with housework, some of the things that I do are: cook in bulk and freeze for easy health dinners when you're shattered (food bags are a godsend if you don't have much space) write a list of things that need to be done each week (if you're struggling could ask dcs to do an item of the list for additional pocket money), put a load of washing in the machine every night to come on in the morning, then you just need to get it out and hang it up, give myself small tasks with breaks in between, even if it means the breaks take longer than the housework. Make sure you prioritise your health, it won't do you or your family any good if you push yourself so hard you get really ill, I don't know if you've read anything about being a 'professional patient' but it really helped me to understand that a big part of my job is to make sure I'm as well as I can be, and that actually it's a job that's fucking difficult, so try not to beat yourself up too much.

ElvishArchdruid · 17/02/2017 02:07

Don't be hard on yourself, it's not your fault at all. I can understand why DH wants a bit of help, my first suggestion would be a relative that could come help? I also think you should contact SS and ask about DP. That way even if you get 8 hours a week you can use them on getting the house in order & a meal prepped by a support worker for tea.

I think you need more help, that's a given.

Please don't be too hard on yourself, it must be really difficult for all of you.

In a perfect world we'd all be Mary Poppins, but it doesn't always work that way. Mitigation need to be put in place. Hopefully you can find a family or friend who wouldn't mind helping for a few quid. I'm guessing the O/T will be paid, so it's hopefully something you could afford. I still think long term DP's are the way to go.

deliverdaniel · 17/02/2017 02:12

sorry, haven't rtft. Sorry you are going through such a hard time. Have you tried Flylady? She is a bit annoying IMO but has good suggestions for keeping on top of housework. The main thing that I took from it was doing things in 15 minute chunks. It doesn't sound as overhwelming as an hour - ie you can do anything for 15 minutes and it's surprising how much you can get done. In two or three of those a day, you can really keep on top of most of hte important things. good luck.

gruffalo13 · 17/02/2017 04:19

I don't have MH issues but I do have extreme fatigue related to auto immune arthritis and other Heath issues.

I agree with PP's that you need to prioritise your MH. I would get a cleaner or whatever you need to keep things ticking over. Even if it's once every 2 weeks.

I also buy good quality short cuts meal planning wise. Gourmet pre prepared stuff you can just add chicken to or veggies are my life saver at times.

I also meal plan every day and DH does shopping on weekends. Emergency foods in freezer.

The hardest thing is the guilt but I've tried to manage that by thinking I am no good to anyone if I have to spend days in bed as I've overdone it.
Priorities must be food, clean clothes and then house - and yes standards can be dropped until you're all back in normal routines.

Wallywobbles · 17/02/2017 05:47

From 11 kids can do all their own washing including little DCs. Load every day put on by whoever then they fold etc in the evening.

Cooking doesn't need to be complicated. Everyone clears up. Small D.C. can put away, clear the table, lay the table before supper and lay it again for breakfast after supper.

Shopping can be done on line. Get DP to help set up your regular shop to go with a meal plan. If you can do a 2 week plan even better but maybe ambitious.

Meal plan can be something like

Quiche and salad (ready made pastry or ready made quiche) salad in a packet
Bolognese sauce (with loads of veg grated in) made into separate meals
So spaghetti bol and
Cottage pie with frozen peas
Potato frittata and salad
Chicken tortilla wraps - bought wraps. Cook chicken, buy salad bags and grated cheese
Bought curry or similar - so just rice to cook
Sausages or burgers once a week
Breaded fish type thing with oven chips
Roast at the weekend, maybe too much?

Then cleaning - I'd farm this bit out immediately and permanently if finances permit. 2 hours 2x a week. Everyone in our house knows that they have to have their shit sorted out before the cleaner comes or she'll sort it for them and they'll never find it again. Ours also takes away our ironing. And brings it back done.

doubletrouble41 · 17/02/2017 06:09

My advice;
Microwave meals
Get Kids to help
put up with a bit of dirt and mess
Most importantly; Don't feel guilty! Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. And IMO you should pay for a cleaner if you can. I know I would!

Fighterofthenightman · 17/02/2017 06:10

What do you do with the time when the DC are at school? You have 2 teenagers; how much do they do around the house?

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