Juggling being a full time working mum

[Lilarosa]

I went back to work today and will be back full time. I can't afford to work part time. I found being at home all the time with my baby difficult and struggled with it so I am glad to be back at work in this aspect. Baby is 10 months old and generally sleeps brilliantly.

However I feel it's another adjustment as I have very stressful job. Before I could come home from work and chill and weekends I could recharge and relax which I can't obviously do now. I'm overwhelmed with anxiety wondering how I'll balance everything and how I'll be able to relax from work and have time to myself. Also juggling housework and cooking as well. I'm away to bed at 8pm tonight as I'm so shattered.

Anyone?

I did this and it was manageable but it takes time to get used to it. You won’t always be so tired and my main advice is to not over plan for weekends; make sure you keep some time for relaxing (as much as you can with a baby anyway) rather than rushing around places.
Try to make life simple in terms of what you cook, housework etc and to a certain extent try and lower your standards as it’s not forever.

Are you a lone parent?

I have a husband who also works full time and is very hands on.

Maybe sit with him and work out how the working day evenings should look so that you can both carve out some downtime?

Eg Tuesday nights you just get a pass and can rest upstairs with a book or a bath and he gets the same on a Thursday. Both power through housework and laundry on a Sunday.

One of you cook while the other does bathtime etc.