Sometimes You Just Have to Cry "Uncle."

Uncle.

My son had a school picnic today but by the time I was in a cab, it was too late to show up. This was after meeting a deadline and then running all over town trying to get to two meetings in two hours and paying heed to the fact that another kid needed to be picked up 30 blocks north.

Now, parent attendance wasn't mandatory, and he came home with a smile on his face from having so much fun, anyway, so why do I feel so guilty?

Maybe because I expect myself to juggle everything. And I'm not even all that coordinated. My nimbler mom friends drop a ball here and there, too, and, like me, they're often overwhelmed by guilt. Scratch that. OVERCOME with guilt.

Yes, society et al puts the pressure on women to manage it all—work, family, friends, marriage, the occasional dental checkup—but we do ourselves in, too. We often make ourselves feel worse than necessary because we beat ourselves up emotionally. We expect ourselves to be Supermoms, ready to leap impossible schedules in a single bound.

So how can we stop? When you have the answer, let me know. (In the meantime, this Wall Street Journal blog post on the "upsides of the juggle" may help put things in perspective somewhat.)

Me? I'm off to prepare dinner. I'm tired already.

—CityMom

Comments

[Sean Butcher]

I feel you. It's so hard to balance everything and make the most out of life. We are growing older, and as the late great Steve Jobs said, we have to make the most of our time on earth. Try to relax a bit and relieve yourself of all the stress you feel.