Calling All Moms! Can Any of You Relate?

Mothers today are riddled with worry and anxiety. I see them in the grocery store, at the mall, in the halls of my kids’ school. I see them on TV, I hear them through my cell phone. I see one when I look in the mirror. Every day, the questions swirl about starting from day one: Am I feeding him the right formula? Am I horrible for not breastfeeding?  My baby has colic, what am I doing wrong? Why is he not potty-trained yet? Did I cause his ADD?  Should I medicate him? How is sending the kids to daycare going to effect them long-term? Am I sending my kid to the right school? Should I hold him back if he has a summer birthday? Is she playing the right sports? Should he be getting tutored for school? Am I feeding them the right foods? Is she wearing the right clothes? Am I spoiling him? Am I too tough on her? Is he hanging out with the right people? Why is she acting so disrespectful? Why do my kids fight so much? Why do I yell so much?  Why do despise my teenager sometimes? Should I complain that I was in the car for four hours today driving kids to soccer, baseball, tennis and religious school? Why am I crabby and tired all the time? I hate that I am 15 pounds overweight but can’t find the time to exercise. Is it really terrible that I haven’t had sex with my husband for months, let alone a conversation lasting for more than 10 minutes squeezed between meeting the kids’ demands? Do I even like my husband? My marriage is deteriorating but divorce is "bad" for the kids. My in-laws are driving me insane.  How are we going to afford to send our kids to college?  I should be working because we could use the income but I feel guilty having my kids in day care. I should be staying home but we can’t afford for me not to work. I miss my girlfriends. Is there really such a thing as getting your groove back after becoming a mom? I hardly remember what my groove is. I am taking care of my kids and my aging parents--0 time for me. I am raising a teenager and going through menopause (or mental-pause as I like to call it). Yikes!  And the list goes on…How can we manage to maintain our sanity given all these pressures? More to come on this in future blogs!