So tired!!

Whew, I'm exhausted just reading your duties. It does sound overwhelming.

Only YOU can choose the right battles. Myself, If I could go back in time .. the kidlets would have got most of my attention.

Can you cut back at work .. or your school schedule at all?

I see there is no time for YOU in that schedule. You are important too.

That is a lot to take on. I would let the kids continue with their sports. It's important to them. My son is 8 and does judo. He practices about 6-10 hours a week and then we travel a lot on weekends. It's important to him and he gets so much out of it. I know I study in the dojo or at a Courtyard Marriott on the weekends. There are times when I feel burned out but just try to keep going.

I'm going to give you a bit of advice the PP did. You need time for you. I know it sounds like where am I going to fit that in, I already have so much but here is something I just learned yesterday. I'm in my 4th week of RN school. Did the prereqs for the last year, and got a divorce all together at the same time. One thing I used to love doing is making crafts and being creative. It was an outlet for me. I could get lost in a project for hours. My son was with his dad this weekend. With everything else I am balancing a new relationship. I spent the day with him Saturday and I worked around the house on Sunday. I had a very frustrating week last week between school, my basement flooding, and everything else. Thought I was going to lose my mind. Then I just decided to decorate the outside of my house for fall and do something fun for a change. I spent 3 hours on it and my wreath I had made years ago was falling apart so I decided to make a new one. It took me about an hour, but it was honestly the best hour I had spent with myself in months!!! I decorated my wreath and got it just right and hung it up. I felt so good after I was done. For one solid hour, I thought of nothing but this wreath and how I wanted it to look. I felt so renergized last night. My son came home and we spent our time together but I really felt good about things when I was done. For that hour there was no school, no judo, no one asking me for something. There was just me and the wreath and I could do whatever I wanted to it. It may sound weird but I get energy from creativity. I had almost lost that part of myself the past year or so and it was fun to rediscover it.

Thank you both! You're right. Tonight after the little ones go to bed I think I'm going to go downstairs and soak in the hot tub (our apartment complex's hot tub...I don't own a hot tub lol). My 12 y/o stays up fairly late and will probably be doing homework anyway since she has practice for both swim and cross country today, so I can have her call my cell if one of the others wakes up. :)

Been there, done that--I'm going to see how this goes and possibly do a temporary reduction at work. I just hestitate to do it right now because we're especially short staffed, and so many of my colleagues have been picking up extra and/or working doubles. I don't do doubles since I haven't planned for them. As for school, I was off for over a year after I had my last child, and now I'm back. It's only 5 credits so should be doable...except for the practicum. That's a two credit class, and it seems like WAY more than two credits. And then the 3-credit lecture goes w/ the practicum, so kind of have to do them together. Actually I had initially registered for my final general ed class also, but dropped it as soon as I knew what I was in for.

Heather--your wreath sounds gorgeous! I love fall colors and fall decor :)