Is Everyone Always Exhausted ?

Most of the answers you got are from people who are logically exhausted. Single moms, moms of special needs kids etc. Not much they can change. I think I know what you mean though about other people saying it who don't seem to have particularly difficult lives. I feel the same way about people always, constantly saying "I'm SO busy." I think it's just something to say but they should realize that saying it all the time starts to sound silly unless they actually are in a very difficult situation. I work full time and have 2 kids and a large dog I'm 99% responsible for but no, I'm not exhausted all the time. And today I feel particularly well rested! Hope you do too.

You know, a funny thing happens to me in the Fall. I come alive. The crisp air alone gives me energy to be creative and happy and do things I wouldn't normally do. However, the chill in the air also makes me want to hibernate. So by about 8 at night, I am ready to climb in my bed just like the kids' bedtime. I am up bright and early the next day, but man-o-man ... I can't snuggle with my husband and watch a late movie like I can in the Summer. I'm out almost as soon as the opening credits roll.

I am tired all the time but I don't bother complaining anymore, it comes with the territory when you have a special needs child It has become a way of life for me. I have no choice but to be "on the go" all the time because of all the appointments, events I have to attend to for my beautiful child so he can get the treatment he needs. Although i am tired all the time, I am also full of joy many moments of the day because my child cheers me with delightful and new things he says and comes up with many times a day. It is what it is, I think it will get better in the next few years but for now, it's this way.

I am continually exhausted. I wish I could change it, but I can't. Sometimes things are out of our control. Please try to be more understanding of people who are exhausted. If you think it would be nice to *hear* someone say that they are doing well and are rested, imagine how nice it would be for someone like me to FEEL well rested.

Yes. I cannot remember when the last time was I truly felt well-rested. It's been about 6 years -I can tell you that. I was exhausted as a SAHM and I'm exhausted as a working mom. Exactly what would you have us change in order not to be exhausted, because I would basically have to get rid of my children for about a month in order for that to happen right now. It's not that life is so fast-paced and we could give up a lot, but keeping a house and yard in order, working full-time, taking care of two small children, feeding ourselves and trying to have some sort of social/extended family life (at least maintain close friendships and family relationships) takes a ton of time, energy, and effort on a 24/7 basis.

Yup, always exhausted, however doing quite well!
Do you have young ones? You don't seem to relate? Super Mom?

ETA: Ha, mamalucky just read your response..seems we are a little on the same page!

Yes, I am. Everyone once in a while I get a "normal" amount of sleep (more than 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours) and feel downright weird. I think it shocks my body and then rather than feeling good my body is worried about the fact that most nights I don't get that much sleep and tries not to get used to it.

I work full-time, my husband works full-time, and we work opposite schedules. My alarm goes off at 6:30 work mornings and I don't usually get upstairs for bed myself until sometime between 1:30 and 2 in the morning. So yes, I'm very, very tired all of the time. :)

I am not exhausted, but I am tired! My kids are young, 9,6, and 9 months, so I am up in the middle of the night and up early. Then I run kids to school, kindergarten, naps, play time, cooking, and every other damn thing that needs to get done. I am EXHAUSTED by about 7pm...and by then I am in the home stretch! Then, after kids are in bed, around 9pm, I get a second wind. Watch TV, computer, read. It's my me time. Go to bed a bit late, get up early, and then do it all again.
L.

I'm exhausted, but I don't know how to change it. Housework, cooking, laundry must be done. Taking college classes must be done. Going to work must be done. Raising my son as a single parent must be done. Running him to extracurricular activities must be done (I believe in the importance of outside interests). Visiting loved ones must be done. Going to parent meetings must be done.

I think we all simply have busy lives and so we are naturally exhausted!

I was until recently! I finally got my DD 100% weaned, and now after 18 months she is FINALLY sleeping through the night! I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night, SCORE!!! :)

The funny thing is, that I always find myself MORE exhausted if I don't have a busy day. Maybe they need a diet change. I noticed a HUGE difference when I cut out most of the sugar in mine (primarily pop... lol. Drinking all that Pepsi was really dragging me down!)

Yep.
Par for the course. Ugh. I'm exhausted just thinking about the beginning of my long week tomorrow: Monday.
Hang in there, get rest when you can, take help when offered, don't try to be Supermom, let things go that can go by the wayside
Get a few mins a day for yourself.
Good luck & best wishes!

Not me. Three times a month at best.

I work full time and have a 1 year old who just started walking, and is working on his 9th tooth, and started separation anxiety. Hubs is in law school full time. I have an hour and a half commute each way to the office.

I am not, however, exhausted all the time, or even often. I can get mighty tired, but seldom exhausted. Hubs does the cooking and laundry, we have a cleaner who comes round once a month. My parents and manny do a wonderful job with the baby, and our little boy is a source of joy and wonderment. Little one sleeps from 8:30 pm-7am and I use the time to decompress, catch up with hubs etc.

I try not to take things personally, also, a glass of wine when I get home also helps put things into perspective.

Good luck getting the rest you need.

I've been around those same people, too! How often are we truly physically spent? I suspect for lots of moms, exhausted refers more to a state of mind.
Yes, being a mother is taxing, but complaining about it constantly is a poor decision that becomes a bad habit. Let's resolve ourselves to stop complaining!

I am, but I don't complain about it. I teach full time, which in and of itself is mentally and physically exhausting. I also am in grad school part time, have three year old twins, and now have a three month old baby. Also, my husband and I work opposite shifts to avoid childcare costs, so we are both single parenting it. And, since I've returned to work my baby will not take a bottle, so when I get home she wants to nurse all night long and won't go to bed until 9:30 or 10:00. That being said, a lot of this is my choice. I am making some of these sacrifices for my family, which is why I don't complain. School will be over next summer, and it is a temporary sacrifice for a long term gain. And, eventually my baby will take a bottle (hopefully!). I do what I have to do for my family!

By the END of the day when I see most people? Durn straight!

But if you've caught me in the beginning or middle of my day, you'd get the bright/smiling/happy/life is bonzer me.

Of course... for the past 6 months, I've only been getting 3 hours of sleep a night on average (when I really need 7), so I am BEAT by the end of my day. I feel like I'm living 3 lives right now. I constantly have to stop and THINK was "that" just today? Seems like it should have been a day or two ago.

I recently met a woman who drank whole chia seeds mixed into fizzy water.......thats right - chia as in the chia pet! She says it gives her great energy without the side effects coffee or energy drinks have on you. Also, as a student psychologist, we are always taught about self-care. We all need a little time to ourselves to either zone out or mentally sort out the day. Otherwise, our mind is always running and having to keep up with the stresses of daily life. Self-care can range from pampering to a day off and alone or even making a rule such as "no body is allowed to knock on the bathroom door or bother me when I am in the bathtub".....alone time is so important!

I am not exhausted, but mostly I am a little tired - My kids are young, and I go to school, plus I have a non helpful husband, so those things add up.
I remember when I didn't have any kids, my friend said to me, enjoy yourself, because onece you have kids you will always be tired - and she was bloody right too!

I wouldn't say that I'm exhausted all the time, but I definitely do feel tired a majority of the time. I wish I could always say that I feel well rested! That would be wonderful. No matter the amount of sleep I get, I hardly ever wake up actually feeling refreshed.

A lot of things are so much out of our control. So many factors contribute to how we cope and therefore how we feel. Amount of sleep, diet, exercise, etc. are things we can have control over for the most part. However, many people have stressful jobs that can be mentally tiring and this can't always be changed. Some people have difficulties at home whether it be a poor relationship, special needs children, ill family/friends, financial difficulties, etc. that contribute to feeling "exhausted."

Try to be more understanding of those who feel this way...although you might not get it, the fact is...that's how they feel and more than likely if there were identifiable factors that they could change, they would do it. We all deal with life differently.

I think people tend to say these things because no one likes to brag about their life. I always find a thing or two to complain about when I am with my friends :) Who wants to be with someone who has it all perfect? right?

by 8p every night i am exhausted! i work full time & parent alone though so really i think that's to be expected, lol. :) i've never known a momma who wasn't exhausted though b/c of one change or another in their child (teething, moving to toddler bed, etc)

YES!! I am always exhausted. The last 6 years especially.

2005 my daughter was born, I was a single Mom. Went to college part time and worked full time. I exclusively breastfed and pumped until 8 months old. This was very tiring and except for the exclusive breastfeeding, it was my schedule for 4 years.

2009 -2011 I went to nursing school full time and worked part time... this time in a relationship, but was still doing all the child caregiving. Had a baby in 8/2011... extremely exhausted because husband barely if ever helps with the baby. I'm literally on call 23.5 hours/ 7 days and I can't keep this up. I'm not working, but my husband is trying to get me to work sooner - even tho he's also bitching about how much daycare will cost for the baby. I still do all the care for my 6 y/o.

America expects too much from it's Mothers. Expects them to do EVERYTHING and BE everything to their whole family and employer if they have one. They see Moms as weak or ineffective if we ask for help... and any SANE person WOULD ask for help with everything we are expected to do. When we finally do break down and ask for help, we are seen as failures and most likely NOT given the help we need even if it's a few hours to ourselves without any responsibility to child or partner.

If Moms work... they are seen as callous towards their child, not good Moms. Then are still expected to switch over to cook/cleaner/child care giver/etc as if they didn't just spend most of their day working.

If Moms stay home... they are seen as lazy, users, burdens, etc. Taking care of a baby, or toddler - not even getting into more than one child under 4 in some families - is hard work!! Such hard work that Moms are doing FOR FREE (since if you asked someone else to cook, clean, or watch your child you'd have to pay a large fee) would be appreciated and given normal breaks just like any other job!

I feel exhausted at 2:00 p.m. It's the time of day for me... I usually try to take some sort of break from my kids so I can recharge.

I'm a full time SAHM, my kids are 2, 4, and 6, and I am not always exhausted. :)

J.

Yeah. I get exhausted. But, I'm a single mother who works full time and has a very strenuous job not to mention all the things that have to be done at home. I feel like I am always burning the candle at both ends.
It is what it is and I'm just so glad for the days I can just keep going.

My son was with his dad this weekend, so I just took it easy. I stayed home, napped, piddled around the house. Got things ready for next week.
Tomorrow, I'll show up at work in the morning with a smile on my face and be ready to go for it.
By next Friday, yes, I will be exhausted.

Good or bad, that's the truth.

I am not a morning person or a an early evening person. I "wake up" around 10am and by 1-2pm I am so so tired! I'm a night owl and usually stay up until midnight. I'm at my game between 10am-1pm and then again from maybe 7pm-11pm.

For me, it is important to take a few moments a day of quiet time to myself and just listen to my body, ask it what it needs. I usually "hear" that I need to take care of myself. I find that when I listen to that voice (give myself enough rest, eat well, take vitamins, exercise, get a massage, etc), then I do feel like "me." Sometimes we moms are self-less to the point of not being able to be ourselves anymore (lack of energy, lack of motivation to be our creative selves, etc). I have to stop and remind myself that my daughter needs ME to be ME, which starts with taking care of me, that it's not selfish to take care of me if it means I can take the best care of her in return.

We really do have a fast pace of life these days, with too many cultural expectations for women. Many times, though, the chronic exhaustion is related to stressed-out adrenals. I've seen numerous women in my practice over the years who are helped with herbs that strengthen their adrenals, balance their hormones naturally, and fortify them to handle life's stresses.

To be honest, not usually. I don't know why that is. I have an only, and he is very easy. He follows me and happily plays while I cook, clean, and do laundry. He is 2 1/2, and that may change. He might become more labor intensive. I am a SAHM, but like I said, he is very easy. I thank my lucky stars, that we are all very healthy. We eat good food, and perhaps that helps. I don't subscribe to the go, go, go lifestyle. I could not handle being constantly on the go. I schedule all our activities on certain days. He knows certain days are go days, and certain days are mostly at home days. He has slept well from a very young age. I am beyond thankful, to have a very considerate and helpful husband. He sees a mess and cleans it. He offers to help all the time. We have a wonderful marriage. While not perfect by any means, we truly enjoy and love being married to each other. Our bills are paid. We are not even close to being wealthy, but our needs are met. I think if our marriage was struggling, we had serious debt...my answer would be very different. I am happy to enjoy this non-exhausting time in my life, because I know that can change at any second.

Yes, I am. Even though my daughter is almost grown, I have to get up 2-3 times/night to use the restroom. Anyone know how to solve this besides not drinking water after 6pm? :(

Add to that, our neighbor's "lovely" dog wakes us up earlier than we'd like (and sometimes late @ night) [don't want this to become a rant; have found some earplugs that work]

I'm pretty tired a lot but it's a mix of health issues plus just plain bringing it on myself. I have hypothyroidism but when we lost our health insurance over a year ago I haven't been to a doctor to get my blood checked or my prescription updated. In addition, I've been taking my pills every other day instead of every day to try and make them last. I know they say not to do it, but it's either that or take them every day and then have to stop them cold turkey. I'd rather be getting some medicine than none.

In addition sometimes my days feel so full of doing things for others that when the sun dips low and people are all tucked into bed, I steal time away from sleep to keep for myself. I read books, mess around on the internet, play a game or watch a show that's not suitable for children. By the time I feel sated it's usually very late and I find that I'll only be getting a few hours of sleep before my family awakens and I do it all over again.

The exhaustion is a combination plate of bad things that I'm either unable or unwilling to change so I put up with it, but I never complain about it unless someone asks me how I'm doing. Then I shrug and say, "I'm exhausted but my kid is five years old and my husband has the flu. It's par for the course."