Burned Out Moms Don't Just Need 'Me Time' — We Need Some Real Help

Oh yeah, it’s like that. The whole concept of “me time” pisses me off. Y’all, if a mum is burnt out from everyday life she does NOT need a pat on the head and a pedicure, she needs HELP. Like legitimate help. Not the kind where someone else takes out the trash and then hounds the hell out of her until she says thank you and treats the person like a patron saint.

Oh yes, people of the internet, today we’re going to talk about “me time” and why it is the stupidest thing on the planet. It’s not so much the term “me time” that gets under my skin, but the thought that merely giving a mother an hour or two to ignore her problems only to come home to the same amount, if not MORE, sh-t for her to do is asinine. You want to help a mum be less overwhelmed and happier? Do some of her dishes/laundry/cooking/child-wrangling. Every. Damn. Day.

When did going to the dentist become a break? When did getting a haircut become anything other than a necessity? Why are my runs considered anything but required for my overall health? Why is ANYTHING centred on the mum considered “me time” for her? Sorry y’all, but taking a dump shouldn’t be considered a break if my kids don’t barge in. It’s ridiculous.

No one thanks me for watching my kids while my husband runs errands, so why the hell is it considered “me time” when I go grocery shopping? This has to stop. All of it has to stop.

You mean aside from the fact that our “breaks” consist of peeing alone? Because we do it all. I don’t mean that in the superhuman kind of way, I mean it in the slave sort of way. We. Do. EVERYTHING. What’s for dinner next Tuesday night? Did the dog get his heartworm pill? Who did the laundry? Cooked dinner? And in a lot of cases, worked all day? That’s right. The mum.

Sure, there are a lot of dad’s out there that do a lot too, but they don’t have this weird concept of “me time” floating around. BECAUSE THEY DON’T NEED IT. I have to make sure everything is in order before I poop or take a shower. I have to secure childcare before I run an errand or drag the tiny monsters with me. Men typically don’t have to do that. They just … do their stuff.

Part of the burnout is the physical work we do on a daily basis, but a lot of it is the mental load. Remembering ALL the things. Great Aunt Beatrice’s birthday? Who do you think remembers, sends the card, and calls? Kid’s doctor’s appointments, meal planning, feeding the pets, reading the books on child development and tracking every damn behaviour. All of it. It’s like Grand Central Station in our heads ALL THE TIME! And guess what, almost none of it concerns ourselves!

F-CK. NO. It doesn’t help. All it does is take all the sh-t we were going to do in that 1-2 hours and shoves it out. Typically more stuff piles on top of it too while we’re being “pampered” (read as thinking about all the shit we have to do, remember, have, and be). Unless someone is literally doing all the stuff we would be doing at that point in time “me time” is pretty damn useless. Maybe even harmful. And yet, we’re supposed to be grateful for the opportunity! We’re supposed to come back refreshed! I call bullsh-t. We don’t need “me time” we need HELP.

We need some recognition for the insane amount of work we do day in and day out. We need sleep, good food that we didn’t cook, help with chores, and help with the mental load. Hell, we need ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the mental load! Mums are people too, d-mmit! Not Employees! We need a break that doesn’t come with a massive backlog of work. Better yet, we need LESS of a load overall.

A lot of us mums are like boiling pots of water. This stupid concept of “me time” tilts the lid in a vain attempt to keep us from boiling over, but no one ever thinks to turn down the godd-mn heat. Instead, life keeps turning the heat up and up and up. We boil faster and faster. Someone tilts the lid by so very graciously giving us “me time” and we’re supposed to be grateful … but all that really did was release just a tiny bit of the pressure. The pot is still at a raging boil. We need help to turn down the heat. If the heat never lessens, things will NEVER get better regardless of many times the lid gets lifted.

What mums really need is help. Continuous, dependable help. We don’t need to be shamed for asking for it, considered “less than” if we can’t deal with our kids for one more second, and judged every time we point out this nonsense.

Well, let’s talk about what that help we need looks like, shall we?

Affordable childcare

This one is a no brainer. We need someone to take care of our kids from time to time for a variety of reasons. I am 100% convinced that humans are not made to parent alone. We NEED the tribe, the community, and to share the responsibility. Without shame. Basically, we need respite care. Otherwise, we have massive epidemics of mental illness in mums. Gee, I wonder why?

Less judgment from other mums

For real. Knock that sh-t off. We’re not doing each other any favours by being judgy bitches. If we don’t support each other how the hell do we stand a chance with society as a whole?

More realistic division of labour in the home

Duh. But this is STILL a thing in 2019! Laundry is not just for women. Cooking, cleaning, bedtime, etc. are NOT the mum’s job. They are the PARENT’S job. Can we please stop with the stupid gender roles at home, please? It no longer applies. Just like being challenged to duels, it is outdated.

More flexibility in the workplace WITHOUT punishment

Having personally been penalized indirectly for birthing a child and then feeding said child with my body, I can say for certain that we need to stop SAYING we value mothers in the workplace and actually do it. The amount of time a person spends sitting at their desk should have zero impact on how they are viewed in the workplace. Most of us mums can do 3x the amount of work in half the time, and yet we get snubbed because “we aren’t there as much as the dudes.”

Teach the boys early

Oh, I HAVE boys and you can bet your ass they’ll do laundry, cook, AND clean! As well as manage their own d-mn mental load. This is helpful for the next generation of mums but it is the help we ALL must give. Let’s teach our boys that they have to do the work too and let’s teach our girls to expect them too.

The freedom to parent in a way that actually works for their family

I am so sick of people suggesting a “parenting style” to me, or criticizing how I deal with my son’s tantrums. If you aren’t the one dealing with it 24/7 you get to say NOTHING. Mums can’t win! No matter how we parent someone has something to say about it. JUST STOP!

Nope. Not even close. But this is a blog post, not a dissertation. Honestly, I could go on forever, but this is a start. Basically, treat us with the respect and compassion we deserve. Thank us for all the sh-t we do. Take on some of the sh-t yourself. Stop judging us because we aren’t freakin’ perfect. Us mums are the most badass people on the planet. And it’s about time we are acknowledged for the insane amount of work we do day in and day out and HELPED.

Don’t tell me to get some ‘Me time’ to feel better. A pat on the head and a pedicure is like me offering a dude a penny for a day’s work. It’s F-CKING INSULTING. Get with the program people, an hour ‘off’ doesn’t fix the epidemic of overworked, over-criticized, and underappreciated mums. The only thing that will fix that is HELP.

Rant over. Rebekah OUT.

This article was written by Rebekah Svensson and reproduced from Cafemom with permission.