If you’ve ever felt guilty for feeling more harassed than happy with your toddler, take heart from the results of a survey by TV channel Cartoonito today. They revealed one in five mums are so exhausted by their pre-schoolers that they struggle to enjoy half the time they spend with their precious babes. More than half the mums, with youngsters under five, said they couldn’t afford childcare and three quarters said they wished they could have just one or two hours a week to themselves.
It’s hard to admit that at times you find it difficult to look after your child, and perhaps even harder to lose the guilt which comes with wanting some time to yourself. My days with Freya look like such great fun on paper; swings at the park, arts and crafts at the children’s centre, playing in the sandpit in the garden…and yet while some days I rejoice our time together, there are also days which feel endless. Yesterday at our local Sure Start children’s centre Freya decided she wanted to use the specially designed toddler-height sink in the toilet to turn the tap on full blast and shower herself and anyone in the vicinity (me). You’d think she would have learned her lesson the first time, but for the next two hours I had to repeatedly run after her, drag her away from the tap, and encourage her to play with something a bit more normal…like paint or play-doh. We must have run to that toilet about 20 times, while the other mums looked on with sympathetic, weary smiles. By the time we got home I was so frazzled I looked like an old woman. The fact is that it is hard looking after a toddler every day and you do need a break once in a while. I am lucky because Freya goes to nursery for 15 hours a week, which gives me just enough time to work freelance and have that vital break from being a mum. It also means I treasure our time together much more because I get a break. It both comforts and scares me that there are so many other women feeling desperate for a rest from their little treasures. It’s time we stopped feeling guilty about being exhausted and asked for help when we need it…
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