Q – I need help.  I’m completely overwhelmed with trying to balance my work with mothering my two boys (ages 2 and 4) and managing the household.  I don’t know how to make it all work, and it feels like i’m not doing any of them well.  I look at friends and it seems as though they are somehow balancing it all.

A – I hear that you need help.  We all do!  It is easy to look around us and perceive that other mothers are somehow balancing it “all” while we struggle to make it work.  I encourage you to honour all the ways that you are giving to your work and your family.  Remember that “balance” doesn’t mean equal distribution.  The true definition of balance is a “harmonious distribution of parts within the whole.”  Are there small changes you can make to increase a sense of harmony in your day?   What factors would increase your sense of wellbeing?   If you have friends who truly seem to be living a more balanced life, talk to them!  Ask them what is working, and ask them what is hard – you might be surprised to find they have feelings quite similar to your own!

Sarah Juliusson offers expert support to growing families from pregnancy through motherhood, with special interest in identity, self-care and life balance for mothers.