I recently blogged about heading back to work after my maternity leave and now that I’m more or less ‘settled’ into a routine it’s time for an update. The short and simple is that managing kids, work, and your marriage is hard! And that might be the understatement of the year.

Getting up early in the mornings = hard

Getting the kids up and ready for school / daycare on time = hard

Missing your kids while you’re at work = hard

Putting in 110% at work to get back into a groove = hard

Keeping up with the housework on your “spare” time = hard

Having your baby cry when you take him from his father who has done the lion’s share of the work so you could settle back into your job = gut-wrenching

The last few weeks have been challenging, to say the least. My only saving grace has been my husband – my rock – my support system – my cheerleader.

I know a lot of new moms feel pressure to be “perfect”, but the truth is, none of us are, so let’s not kid ourselves into thinking otherwise.  We all need support, and admitting that doesn’t make us weak. It makes us smart.

A strong support system will provide you with a net to catch you when you fall. And we’re all going to fall. And that’s totally ok.

Having a good routine (and trying to stick to it as much as possible) also helps. Soon it will become second nature and the early, busy mornings won’t be so challenging.

And don’t forget to take care of you, even if it means scheduling in some “me” time. You’re doing yourself (and your kids) a disservice by not taking time to recharge.

I’m still struggling with trying to manage everything. It’s an incessant process of re-negotiating priorities and managing the curveballs that get thrown my way, but day-by-day it’s getting a little easier.