How I manage to do it all

This month has been nothing short of hectic. With at least one night each week spent away from home, the juggle has been immense, almost impossible, and certainly not achievable without the support crew we’ve got around us.

I’m often asked how I manage to do it all. How I fit it all in. The working, the travel, the blogging, the parenting, the therapy… and the honest truth is that I don’t. I really don’t. There’s no way in the world that I could do it all, and I’ve long ago given up trying.

I often feel as though I’m doing too much and doing none of it well. Some months are easier than others, some days easier than others. Sometimes the anxiety overwhelms me and I battle nausea, a thumping heart and hot flushes. Other days, I just kind of feel like I’m forgetting something. All day. It’s very unnerving.

And then there are the rare days, the ones that make it all worth while, where everything just kind of falls into place and I get to the end feeling on top of the world.

But no matter what sort of day it is, I couldn’t do it on my own.

Earlier this year, some things changed in our house.

Husband’s work hours changed, meaning he could pick Poss up from school most days. He is there to get her, to do the homework and listen to the after school dramas that inevitably pour out of Poss each day. I do the mornings on my own, but he now does the afternoon.

And my dad came to stay a few days each week. He lives in the country with my step-mum and gorgeous sisters, but his work needed him in the city. So he now stays here. Between him and Husband, I’m lucky enough to have gained not one, but two, backstops.

They pick up groceries, get dinner started, walk the dog and turn the heaters on, so I arrive home to a warm house. They drop Poss off at cycling, or at school if I’m interstate, and are on call should she need them.

I’m sure it’s not easy. Two grown men living in a small house, all bumbling around together with Poss, the puppers, a super cute bunny and me. But it seems to work most of the time.

And I know that either one of them would be fine on their own, but knowing they are tag-teaming each other just puts my mind at ease. I know they’ve got it covered, whatever crazy stuff might be thrown their way.

So between them, my mum (who is always on speed-dial), a bunch of friends who help me to keep my sense of humour, and our awesome cleaner who helps keep the floors clean, we manage to keep most of the balls in the air; the juggling act continues.

But do I manage do it all? God no. I don’t. I’m just really lucky to have a team around me who helps me look like I do.