Is anyone else feeling total overwhelmed? I second guess myself on everything now. Where did that person go who was happy, funny, full of energy. Now it seems between 3 kids, 2 of them teenagers,and the schedules they keep there is no me. Did the mothers of the 50's have it better? Today we cook, clean, work full-time or part-time, drive to a million activities, parties, "Play dates" - what the heck is that all about. Kids don't just play outside after school and come in for dinner when the street lights go on. Between email, cell phone there is no down time at all. But it's the guilt of keeping up with what everyone else that keeps fueling this racing train... when does it stop?

This is exactly true for me - I feel I have no life. I work, have two teenagers and feel that I have to try to do it all and am so tired of it. What does it all mean? I commute to work, am not home till late and by that time am too tired for anything. I worry about money ALL the time and how will we pay the bills, buy food, etc. It is just getting to be too much - I cannot find humor in anything.

I am in my fifth year of trying to manage my worrywart status. On day something was mentioned to me that finally clicked "you must think you are pretty powerful if you think you can change things by worrying about them."
I think the biggest step we can take is to share with those closest to us that we cannot do it all that we are burning out and we want their input in how mom can have fun also, then we truly HAVE to think about what it is that we would like to try that is different from our usual routine. Even 15 minutes every couple of days gets you started, looking forward to that time will let you realize that we can (and have to) carve out some me time.

just love loretta! i just read party pants, and want to do it for a study for women...like a get together and "figger out" where do we go next. anyway, i am a mom with the kids married, about to be, or in college, and i am over___whelmed, worked, stressed, tired. i am under__sexed, paid, energized. i worry about taxes, insurance costs, kids, health, prices, money, the stupid government, and the future of my beautiful country. not to mention all the people who serve in the armed forces, the illegal immigration problem, insurance i can't afford, that basically is no insurance at all after the 5000.00 deductable, and how in the world am i going to pay for the rest of this wedding, and the college debt for the other one. the worst is i realize my vote counts for nothing anymore. my own little world is getting harder all the time, and i don't know what to do anymore. i am the born again christian your mother warned you about, so i know how the story ends, but feel like i am living it, and am scared to pieces.

Been there! My 4 children are now grown up and moved out...the youngest just this last year. Empty Nest Syndrome set in last fall, my job ended, I didn't know what to do with myself, and I worried constantly about my youngest daughter. I realize now that I should have taken time for myself to "fill" my cup while I had the time! Focus on what felt good for me. I never did that before because I was a martyr. Even if it was only an hour a week, I should have taken time out for me...to remind myself of what I liked to do...art galleries, walks on the beach, a hiking club, take a class, etc. I have no girlfriends that I do stuff with because I never had the time.
In a panic, last January, I bought a business...I thought I needed a new focus. Wait a minute! This isn't what I wanted! NOT FOCUSED! I had no idea! Now I have employees to "parent" and endless details to take care of...talk about overwhelm! WAYYYY more work and stress than I've ever had to deal with. After 6 months of waking in the middle of every night in a panic...thinking of details of things I had to do, I've had to learn to relax. Well, a little. Not as easy as it sounds! So, when I wake in the middle of the night now and the panic starts to set in, I tell myself that there is nothing I can do about it now and it's more important to sleep. Then I try to think of something pleasant or pick up a novel and read for a bit. It works better all the time.
What I'm learning to do during the day, is to take each day in segments. (Wish I'd learned this a long time ago!) I focus only on what is important in a specific time segment and everything else is consciously pushed to the back of my mind. If something tries to creep in there, I acknowledge it and push it aside. For example: This time segment is for family connection time - no talking or complaining about the business, answering the phone, etc. OR...This time segment is for paperwork - not net surfing (like I did to get to this site). This time segment is for housework. This time segment is for business. Etc.
I Keep a notebook to help stay focused. I'm not perfect at this but I working on it. I ask myself "What is most important right now?" Oh yeah, and I cancelled cable TV service. It's amazing how much more time in a day I have without that mindless distraction! I read for relaxation.