Working Parents – Tired, Stressed & Rushed (New York Times Article Review)

Working Parents ARE tired, stressed and rushed!

That’s my opinion and I draw my conclusion from the fact that I am one, AND that is how I feel, lol!!

The reason for today’s topic is an article that I found online from the NY Times.

It was centered around a new study by Pew Research Centre, who found that working parents are having difficulty balancing work and family. The respondents said that they were short on quality time with their children, friends, and partners and felt tired, stressed and rushed.

To read the full article, click here:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/upshot/stressed-tired-rushed-a-portrait-of-the-modern-family.html

One woman’s comment struck a nerve with me and it has stuck in my head since I read this article:

Aimee Barnes, a working mother of one, is quoted as saying, “You basically just always feel like you’re doing a horrible job at everything.”

I think that this is sad. It is certainly very true and there are days when I feel that too. It is just so much to try and keep up with day after day.

Yet, how do you try to do everything and feel like you are doing it well?

Most couples want to buy a home, therefore saddling themselves with a mortgage.

There are bills to pay whether you are a homeowner or not; groceries, utilities, transport, to name just a few.

To feel like you are not a rat in a wheel, people look to go on vacation, or out to dinner, or even to the movies, to feel like they are ‘living’ and it all costs money.

Add kids to this and costs skyrocket!

So, you work to bring in the cash but this takes you away from your kids.

So, if you stay home to be with your kids, your income goes down, making it hard to do all the things that cost money.

It’s a vicious cycle, explaining why Aimee Barnes, myself and probably every other working parent out there feels lacking at some point.

Here are the points that I took away from the article and I hope they can help you too:

1. My feelings of overwhelm are the same as everybody else’s.
2. We love our kids and our partners. We want the best for them and ourselves, and that is why we are striving to have it all.
3. “Balance” is unrealistic and “Blend” is a better word, especially “Blend on your terms”.
4. We are superhumans and we are doing an amazing job with all that we have going on!

Have a read of this article, to feel a kinship with all the other working parents out there.

Sending you big hugs, working mums and dads!

Ted xo