I just need to vent and get this off my chest!
I have two kids, my husband works full-time and I work 4 days a week.
One kid is in primary and the other in secondary so we're swinging two completely different school calendars in terms of events etc.
This last academic year I feel like I am behind on everything. I have missed a parent-teacher meeting as I put it in the calendar for the wrong date, I've sent my kids on school trip days without the things they need to pack and had times when I'm running from a work thing to a concert or something only to arrive late and pouring with sweat!
We're on a middle income (my husband also had a period of unemployment this past year) and the COL has meant that we've had to really think about every penny we spend which has added even more to my admin load. Every week I need to manage our weekly spend on various things like groceries and juggle paying the bills in the right order as we're catching up on finances after a reduced income for a bit. I tend to do most of the kids' school admin stuff too as my work hours are less than my husband's. My husband does more of the household chores than me - washing clothes + cleaning the flat and I do the cooking. We've kind of fallen into these roles as I love to cook and perhaps he loves to clean!!? 🤷
Most of the year I've felt like a not good enough parent and a not good enough employee!... We don't have any family to help nearby and can't afford any extra help. It's kind of the opposite I've always helped my parents as they immigrated to the UK back in the 60s with limited English so need help with admin, translating documents etc. and now my mum is on her own as my dad passed away there's even more to do - as my dad did all these things (he had better language + general admin skills). I used to just assist my mum for medical appointments but now it's also renewing insurances or drivers licence etc. I'm happy to do this as my parents have done so much for me but it just adds more the plate.
I know this is not a first world problem but I would like to actually feel like I am on top of stuff. I think the younger kid growing up (in Year 2 now) has made this feel more unmanageable as he does more things. He still hasn't learnt to swim!... and I finally managed to book him in for lessons over the summer. I did manage to teach hime to cycle when he was year 1 though - I'll give myself a pat on the back for that!
I guess this is more of a brain dump as I just need to get this feeling off my chest. Actually writing all this down makes me realise that I need to set aside a few hours a week to make lists, add things to calendars and just get on top of it all. Perhaps I need to isolate school and family admin tasks as a separate focussed activity? My brain just feels overwhelmed all the time and I find myself forgetting important things!
Generally happy though - just tired, overworked and constantly catching up on things with two wonderful happy and healthy kids + a caring husband.