Dear Young Mom: It Is Okay to Be Overwhelmed

Young moms everywhere are faced with paying bills, spending time with kids, and trying to manage their household. Whether you are a stay at home mom, working mom, or a work at home mom, being overwhelmed seems to be the norm. However, reading various websites and blogs, people tell you NOT to be overwhelmed. I’m here to tell you that it is okay to be overwhelmed.

The dishes are piling up.

There is nothing more overwhelming than looking in your sink and seeing a sink full of dishes. It’s okay to look at the sink of dishes and think, when am I going to get these done? Maybe you are a young mom, have several young children at home, and you wake up feeling overwhelmed every morning. I GET IT!

The kids are crying.

I’m not sure there is anything more overwhelming than when your kids are crying. Of course, they are usually crying when you are trying to do something else. When your attention isn’t 100% focused on them, that is when your kid panics. It’s okay to be overwhelmed in that moment.

You need to be in four places at once.

Sometimes life demands that you be in several places at once. As a young mom, this is very overwhelming. Maybe you don’t have help from family members and you have to decide which event is more important. It is okay to be overwhelmed with the fact that you can’t be in four places at once.

Dear Young Mom: It’s okay to be overwhelmed with life.

Sometimes society makes you feel like you cannot be anything other than super woman. If you don’t know how to cope with being overwhelmed— here is how you can deal.

Stop what you are doing.

Easier said than done, right? Stopping what you are doing may seem like it’s going to stress you out more. However, stopping what you are doing can help you collect your thoughts and get the situation under control. If the kids are crying and you are trying to wash dishes, just stop washing the dishes. At the end of the day, you are going to be glad you focused on your kid instead of those pesky dishes.

Call up a friend when you feel overwhelmed.

I don’t think I ever feel more relieved in life than when I call up a friend. There is just something about calling up a friend can make a day so much better. Talking to that friend and telling them why you are overwhelmed just seems to calm me down.

Realize you can only do so much.

Most young moms feel like they have to compete against the moms on Facebook and Pinterest. At the end of the day, it is not about what you got done. This may be a harsh statement, but it is very true. When you feel overwhelmed, you really need to realize that you can only do so much. Be happy with what you were able to accomplish!

Take a deep breath.

Finding a way to channel those overwhelming feelings is important. Sometimes it’s so hard to cope with those feelings that you just don’t know where to turn. Young mom, take a deep breath, sit down, and just relax. Don’t let the world and its demands steal the joy from your life. Taking a deep breath is one way to calm down your racing heart, collect your thoughts, and move on.

Reach out for help.

Sometimes those overwhelming feelings become too much for any young mom to handle. Being overwhelmed does not make you a bad mom. You do need to channel those feelings into something positive or even reach out to someone who is willing to help. I think it makes you an even better mom when you realize you are overwhelmed and cannot do it all. Life is overwhelming and there is no doubt about that. Add a job, kids, and life onto it and you have a big heaping pile of “overwhelms.”

Dear Young Mom: It’s okay to be overwhelmed.

Life is hard and being a mom is even harder some days. The best advice I can give you is to take it a second at a time. Love on those kids and forget the worries of the world. When you start to get overwhelmed, sit down and realize that your kids are the most important things in your life—not the dishes or even your job (as hard as that is to put into action).