Motherhood: When 90% of your time is spent putting other people’s crap away.
Do you sometimes feel as if:
- You are doing too much for everybody else in your family and get little gratitude or support in return?
- It is easier to do everything yourself, otherwise nothing gets done?
- You nag everybody in the family because nobody else is doing anything?
Don’t worry you are not alone:
As mothers today, we put lots of pressure on ourselves to create the best family we can. This often means that we tend to do too much because at least that way we know it will get done on time, without nagging and up to our standards. The downside is that it often leaves us tired, stressed and irritable as we have to do it all and then spend too much time yelling at our kids, ‘why can’t you do anything for yourself?!’.
Give your kids a chance:
But we are often the reason why we are in this frustrating position in the first place. As mothers, we often self-impose these additional chores and responsibilities into our already busy lives – tasks which our kids could easily do by themselves, if we only gave them the chance! So why not change the situation and go on strike! Not only will we, as mothers, benefit from the change in our own behaviour by gaining greater personal energy and more fulfilment in our family life, but it will also help our children to become independent and responsible, boosting their confidence, knowing that we trust them to participate in the daily organisation of the family. As a bonus, you will develop even greater self-esteem and gain respect from other family members!
Plan, Agree and Communicate your Strike:
The key point to a successful ‘Mum’s on Strike’ is: planning (decide what you will and will not do from now on for your children and other family members), warning (prepare your family of the changes so they have time to adopt to the new sharing of responsibilities in the household) and consistency (don’t go back to the way it was before).
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