Motherhood, surely not everyone finds it this hard?!

Despite its undeniable joys, lets face it, sometimes motherhood can feel like a never-ending rollercoaster of tears, mess, poo, vomit, sensory overwhelm, meltdowns, washing and boredom all washed down with a big dose of endless exhaustion. Surely we are being a bit dramatic right?! Nope! Motherhood is not sitting around watching tele all day while the baby sleeps or the kids are at school. Motherhood is no joke.

Here’s the FACTS:

•  The average mother’s working week is around 2.5 full-time equivalent jobs

• Feeding a newborn can take about 6 hours per day (yes - that’s almost a full-time job on its own!)

• More than half of all Australian women 35-45 feel rushed or pressed for time

• Australian mothers spend an average of 30 hours per week on housework (not parenting)

• Mothers of children 0-4 spend around 46 -50 hours per week on childcare

• Mum’s that do paid work still do the lion share of housework and childcare

• Half of all mothers feel burnt out by motherhood

• 2/3 of mums report getting less than an hour a day to themselves

• And…according to best selling author and psychologist Rick Hanson motherhood is more difficult that 98% of other jobs.

They say being a mother is the greatest job in the world... evidently, it may also be the toughest.

 It is no wonder so many mothers I work with so often fantasise about running away or worse still being sick or injured just so they can have rest.

Ladies, here it is the ‘permission’ you always tell me you need. Take the nap, take the sleep in, take the weekend away, take the night out with the girls, take whatever you can, heck you deserve it!

Data from - Australian Bureau of Statistics , Australian Institute of Family Studies, Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Motherly State of Motherhood Survey