Home time blues

[standsonshiftingsands]

This might be a bit daft, I just wondered if anyone else 'suffered' from this.

I work full time in a pretty demanding job with 3 kids. I am first home and do the tea/homework thing - or get started. My husband doesn't get in until 7 or 8 but to be fair he does the mornings. I am crushed by a low mood every night when I get in. I don't know if eveything just overwhelms me. The house is a mess (always) - the kids fight with each other and me. Its all I can do to make a start on stuff and more often than not I have a glass of wine. I am fairly upbeat and motivated at work. Does anyone else have this?

Are you a teacher by any chance?

I dread it too. Am totally exhausted by pick up, dh never home in time, have to sort out everything when I get in. It really gets me down

No, I work in IT. I'm glad its not just me. I hate the way I am snappy with the kids when I should be enjoying what little time I have with them. Maybe I need to unpick it and take one thing at a time.

Yes, absolutely! Maybe being organised might help? Have you tried preparing tea the night before eg in the slow cooker or a spag Bol ready to heat up? I only bath the dc every other night (they wash hands and face though!) we do homework on a Sunday when both dh and I are around so it shares the burden. It's hard when your knackered from work to start again when you get home.

Could you cut down on your hours at all, a full time job and 3 kids is a awful lot to cope with.
Does your husband help out at weekends?

I think tea time is the hardest point of the day. My hv years ago used to call it the witching hour. Everyone is tired and hungry, and I also think drop offs are much easier than pickups, and the whole tea thing. Can't your dh change his hours a bit?

Thanks for the replies. I am looking to drop down to four days but am waiting for the outcome of a wide scale review at work which might see me move anyway. Everything gets squashed to the weekend which isn't great. I think I do need more planning though - sometimes its hard to know where to start when it seems such a mountain. The witching hour is good - and bang on.

The balance isn't right just now and thats probably what underlies it all.

It's definitely the witching hour, i hate it because it's such a contrast to how i feel otherwise. Anyone can feel it, not just mums or people with busy lives. It can also be your mind producing a 'dip', telling you to have a glass of wine. The more you feed that, the more it will be there. Try a month without the wine.. any chance you could learn how to meditate, it's helped me so much.

Best of luck x