Are you supported enough?

By Krista, Contributor/Social Media Liaison

I see and hear so much conversation every day about not knowing how another person “does it all.”  We all admit that we don’t really do it all – our houses are a mess, our kids eat hotdogs three nights a week, someone else saw our child’s first steps, our checkbook hasn’t been balanced since Bush was President and the oil needed to be changed in our car three months ago.

In some ways, I think we’ve gotten pretty good at being real about what our lives really look like. The places we fail, the times we win and fact that we only hold it together with a teeny tiny little thread.  In other ways, I think we deserve some credit. Maybe the house isn’t in top shape, but there’s a roof over our children’s heads. There’s dinner as a family. The bills are paid on time.  Homework gets checked and permission slips get signed.

It’s not easy. For sure we deserve a medal or at least a new pair of shoes, but somehow at the end of the day we go to bed feeling like we did the best we could.

So, here’s my question…

Who helps you? Who is your support system?

I have a pretty strong belief that it does, indeed, take a village. I think I came into this belief when I was in the middle of losing my mind trying to do it all myself and I learned how to ask for help or accept offers that were coming in.

We shouldn’t HAVE to do it alone! It shouldn’t matter if the house is clean because you pay someone to come vacuum and scrub floors. It’s OK if the children are fed every night because the husband makes a mean pasta sauce.  There’s nothing wrong with letting grandparents babysit while you run errands.

We don’t have to do it all ourselves.  Think of it as delegating, if you want.  But who is supporting you?

Do you have a fantastic husband who splits parenting and all the household stuff right down the middle?

Do you work for a company that offers flexible scheduling, work from home options or on-site daycare?

Do you have a daycare facility or babysitter that you can’t live without?

Do you live near family and friends who are always there in a pinch?

For me, it’s a little bit of all of that. I have enough vacation time that I don’t need to worry about being out of the office for kids’ doctor appointments or when they are sick. I have a boss that lets me change my schedule to accommodate an early daycare pick up or late drop off.  My in-laws live next door and don’t mind when my kid comes over in her pajamas.  My parents are less than an hour away and are quick to jump at a call for help.  And, even though it’s football season, Craig does everything he can to make sure that our family has what we need.

It’s how we survive. This asking for and accepting help thing.

And I’m OK with that, because at the end of the day, it’s what’s best for my family.

Image Source