Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Endless endless jobs

88 replies

HTruffle · 03/12/2024 22:32

Does anyone feel swamped by the absolutely endless list of jobs to do? I don’t even mean the big things like work, for example, although they take up a lot of time obviously. What I mean is the absolutely non stop mental list of small and medium things that need doing ON A NON STOP CONSTANT BASIS?

So to illustrate my point today I’ve done the dishwasher, some admin on the computer, ordered Christmas presents, gone to work, done two school runs and one extra child pick up, made tea, packed lunches, cleaned the kitchen for the 8 millionth time this month, helped elderly relative with a house issue, flossed teeth because we SHOULD ETC, picked up bits of crap off the floor, answered hundreds upon hundreds of kids’ questions, a bedtime routine for two kids, washed school shirts, ordered a new diary and probably 4973 other jobs which just have to get done.

is this just how it is!? When on earth is the time for anything else?!?

OP posts:
SlB09 · 03/12/2024 22:32

YES.
ABSOLUTE OVERWHELM

Washywishy · 03/12/2024 22:33

Then add Christmas into the mix! It's just more work

SlB09 · 03/12/2024 22:33

And I'm a 'finisher' so it bloody stresses me out!

Elfie23 · 03/12/2024 22:34

This.
Bloody this.
Every. Damn. Day!

Behindthethymes · 03/12/2024 22:34

And it sort of feels like you’ve done nothing at all because it’s all so mundane that it’s hard to remember exactly what it was.

newhousenewhouse · 03/12/2024 22:36

My children are now teenagers. One has moved out and the other has been at her dad's for a few days. I'm bored shitless. I was like you a few years ago though. It won't last forever.

NameChange374 · 03/12/2024 22:38

100% yes. And despite being almost 40 years old, I STILL invariably overestimate how much I can get done in a day so that, after completing about 10,000 tasks of varying sizes in the day, I still go to bed every night frustrated that I didn't manage to get that one last thing done 🙄

changedmyname24 · 03/12/2024 22:38

Yes, absolutely. But with a disabled child whose condition is currently going through a rough patch, so probably half my week is spent communicating with medical people & school.

I have to have my hour at the gym if I'm not working, it keeps me from tipping over the edge.

Flangeosaurus · 03/12/2024 22:39

Omg yes. Every fecking day, just an endless deluge of Things To Do. Plus DIY!! Which I’m desperate to finish but equally
can’t really be tiling a bathroom at 10pm which seems to be when I might actually have a spare 30 minutes

Original poster
HTruffle · 03/12/2024 22:40

newhousenewhouse · 03/12/2024 22:36

My children are now teenagers. One has moved out and the other has been at her dad's for a few days. I'm bored shitless. I was like you a few years ago though. It won't last forever.

I totally get this and almost dread this sort of thing but a balance would be nice.

A large portion of the day I feel like I should be doing two things minimum at any one time, usually one with each hand just to try and keep pace with the stuff that needs doing.

I sort of feel like I’m getting a brain fog but I think this is entirely attributable to the sheer amount of stuff there is to do and remember.

OP posts:
Original poster
HTruffle · 03/12/2024 22:41

NameChange374 · 03/12/2024 22:38

100% yes. And despite being almost 40 years old, I STILL invariably overestimate how much I can get done in a day so that, after completing about 10,000 tasks of varying sizes in the day, I still go to bed every night frustrated that I didn't manage to get that one last thing done 🙄

This too. I absolutely never feel on top of things.

OP posts:
blueshoes · 03/12/2024 22:42

newhousenewhouse · 03/12/2024 22:36

My children are now teenagers. One has moved out and the other has been at her dad's for a few days. I'm bored shitless. I was like you a few years ago though. It won't last forever.

I have a laundry lists of tasks in the never never box that I am waiting for my youngest to leave home to be able to tackle.

So sad to see him leave but also relishing finally being able to get to them. How sad am I.

Raindropskeepfallinonmyhead · 03/12/2024 22:42

Yes - was thinking this myself earlier

Original poster
HTruffle · 03/12/2024 22:43

changedmyname24 · 03/12/2024 22:38

Yes, absolutely. But with a disabled child whose condition is currently going through a rough patch, so probably half my week is spent communicating with medical people & school.

I have to have my hour at the gym if I'm not working, it keeps me from tipping over the edge.

Sorry to hear about your young person. Hope you get some support with that soon.

My two are brilliant but intense and with the hobbies and the never ending questions which apparently require an answer quicker than immediately it feels like a 16 hour a day test of my abilities to multitask!

OP posts:
Dominicains · 03/12/2024 22:45

I think this every day when I am unloading the dishwasher or making packed lunches or wiping down the kitchen sides or making my bed or putting another load of washing on or hanging it up or putting it away or feeding/watering the pets or scooping the cat litter or taking the dog for a walk (actually this I don’t mind as it’s by the sea) or seeing a smeary window and cleaning it or sweeping the kitchen floor or picking up teenage detritus or ironing school uniform or making shopping lists or making more bloody dinners or swishing bleach down the toilets or or or any of the other insufferable daily chores. Not to mention my very unchallenging full time job that requires presenteeism. Or my increasingly worrisome parents. At least I have the dog walks, a very charming and helpful when asked teenager and a very very far away ex who leaves us alone now. And I don’t have to feel resentment at someone else not pulling their weight as it’s been just me and the offsprout for a very long time now. But oh boy would I love to win the euromillions and hire a housekeeper and PA.

Merryoldgoat · 03/12/2024 22:46

yup. It’s endless.

I’m making a list of house stuff that I can get an handyman in to do for 2/3 days and knock the jobs out.

At least then I can just concentrate on and do the normal shit

Monty27 · 03/12/2024 22:50

We have such high expectations of ourselves. If we don't meet them we beat ourselves up.
I took early retirement (poor as a church mouse) and 1 DC (the immaculate one that helped) has their own place now and the younger one aged 28 still lives at home, the messiest person ever.
I still don't get the ideal satisfaction. That's not working.
Some things have got to give.

YoshiIsCute · 03/12/2024 22:50

YES. And when I talk about this IRL, people don’t seem to get it

allthatfalafel · 03/12/2024 22:50

HTruffle · 03/12/2024 22:43

Sorry to hear about your young person. Hope you get some support with that soon.

My two are brilliant but intense and with the hobbies and the never ending questions which apparently require an answer quicker than immediately it feels like a 16 hour a day test of my abilities to multitask!

Show quote history

Tell them to ask Alexa

HiCandles · 03/12/2024 22:53

Yes. So much yes.
It's just constant. One job ticked off gets replaced by two more. Just dreary mundane stuff.
The children's clothing is a never ending merry go round. New stuff in next size up to get, I try to buy second hand, so looking out for bargains, searching through posts. Old stuff to sort, pack away, sell, donate. I'm done having babies but I cannot begin to deal with the mammoth task of doing something with the baby clothes. I've sold some BNWT bits but have boxes upon boxes of clothes and equipment I won't throw but equally have no time to find suitable homes for.
Work is so incredibly intense. I have no time to do everything I need to but I also have no time at home to catch up.
Time to exercise or do some sewing which I love is a distant pipe dream!

AdviceNeeded2024 · 03/12/2024 23:00

💯 I feel like I’m slowly going mad… I think about my never ending to do list when I go to sleep then it invades my dreams. I can’t get away from the fucker!!

Monty27 · 03/12/2024 23:01

Monty27 · 03/12/2024 22:50

We have such high expectations of ourselves. If we don't meet them we beat ourselves up.
I took early retirement (poor as a church mouse) and 1 DC (the immaculate one that helped) has their own place now and the younger one aged 28 still lives at home, the messiest person ever.
I still don't get the ideal satisfaction. That's not working.
Some things have got to give.

I mean and that's WITHOUT working.

JWhipple · 03/12/2024 23:04

And then finally, no more jobs forever

Endless endless jobs
holidayfever2024 · 03/12/2024 23:15

Glad it's not just me but my god isn't it awful !
I often lament that other people seem to be free of all this endless overwhelming burden of stuff to do but I don't know how .

I am lying in bed typing this remembering really important stuff I never get near to doing .. like remortgage , a car repair , a dental appt for kids , help parents with paperwork - all we do is just about keep kids lives running and do laundry and dishwasher constantly .
Argh .. and breathe

SwordToFlamethrower · 03/12/2024 23:24

We've quit Christmas, currently sitting in a tip, just chilling out