Juggling the Joys of Motherhood: Tips for Finding Balance

Becoming a mother can certainly tip the scales in one direction – often in the direction of exhaustion! This is not only true for mothers who work outside the home. Motherhood in general can set things off balance.

Here are some tips for finding balance for anyone who is juggling the joys of motherhood.

Table of Contents

1. Everything Every Day?

Each day has only so many waking hours. One of the temptations in your quest for balance is to try to give equal time to all your responsibilities and interests every day. However, unless you plan on spending two minutes on each activity, task, or interest, this is probably not going to work!

Here’s a way to compromise: rather than trying to do everything every day, break your tasks and responsibilities down into weekly things. You probably can’t read a book or take a bubble bath to unwind every day, but why not once a week? If you can’t make time to play with your children for an hour a day, do it for a few hours once a week. Looking at things from a weekly perspective rather than a daily one can make all the difference.

2. It’s Your Family

Your head can spin if you start researching and discovering the opinions of others as to finding balance in motherhood. This is because you will find that for every person, there’s a different opinion (almost)! Some will say mothers should “never” work outside the home; others will declare it’s essential. Still others hold to the philosophies of “attachment parenting” while others believe you should “detach” from your kids as often as possible.

To reconcile this, just remember that it’s your family, and no family is exactly like yours. No one lives your life but you, and no one can decide what works best for your family but you and your family. What feels “balanced” to you may look off-balance to someone else, and that’s okay.

3. No One Is an Island

Even if you feel alone, you’re not an island. Don’t try to do everything yourself, and don’t feel guilty if you need to ask for help. Being able to “call in reinforcements” – whether it’s a family member, sitter, husband, friend, etc. – can make the difference between a happy, balanced mom and a stressed, off-kilter one!

4. What Do You Want?

Here’s where you can make a list to help get things straight. Asking yourself what you want out of life is worthwhile, and setting long-term goals is a good idea also. But what about each day? How do you want your ideal day to look? What can you do to make that happen? Start making changes as you work toward that ideal schedule.

So, how would you want your ideal day to look?