How do low energy people parent?

[Anonymous]

I would call myself a pretty high energy person - routinely work out, am up every day at 6:30am, work full time, etc.

But being a parent to 3 young kids is kicking my butt. I am exhausted. Between the mental load (laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments, etc), enrichment for kids (sports, religion, etc) and school - I am so tired! How do low energy, introverted people do all of this?!?

[Anonymous]

You have three little kids. That would tire anyone out, not just introverts or people with low energy. And just noting, being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re low energy.

[Anonymous]

Introvert here. I wonder that myself. We had only one child, and they are also an introvert, so that makes life much easier. I could never have handled 3 kids. Or even one high energy, extroverted kid.

[Anonymous]

We do a crappier job and/or our kids are also lower energy.

[Anonymous]

I'm introverted. We have a great nanny who handles a lot of the mental load. We have cleaning people come twice a week. DH is a very involved parent.

[Anonymous]

My husband is like that -- he married me, a high energy person. We only had one child. When DD was younger he'd be the dad on the sidelines, scrolling on his phone (while I'd be chatting up the other moms). He orders groceries online and sits in the car during sports practices.

That said, he's great with DD one-on-one and they spend a lot of time together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would call myself a pretty high energy person - routinely work out, am up every day at 6:30am, work full time, etc.

But being a parent to 3 young kids is kicking my butt. I am exhausted. Between the mental load (laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments, etc), enrichment for kids (sports, religion, etc) and school - I am so tired! How do low energy, introverted people do all of this?!?

I have twins. I just suck it up and do all that you do. Except I don’t work out everyday. Other than that, I manage it all! I wouldn’t have 3 kids though.

[Anonymous]

Op here - I feel like from the minute I wake up at 6:30am until the minute the kids are finally asleep at 9pm I don’t have a single minute to myself. Either a kid needs something, someone at work needs something or my husband needs something. Or my dog needs something.

My only “me time” is working out 30 minutes a day. Or walking my dog and I can listen to a podcast.

It is exhausting day in and day out for the past decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would call myself a pretty high energy person - routinely work out, am up every day at 6:30am, work full time, etc.

But being a parent to 3 young kids is kicking my butt. I am exhausted. Between the mental load (laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments, etc), enrichment for kids (sports, religion, etc) and school - I am so tired! How do low energy, introverted people do all of this?!?

I only had 2 (calm girls thank goodness) and I don't work. That's how I do it. And its still hard.

[Anonymous]

My goal is sometimes keeping the kids alive.

[Anonymous]

Introvert =/= low energy. Not sure why you're conflating the two. As an introvert, I do it the same way you do. I'm tired, I feel like something is always getting half-assed or missed, and I cut back on things that aren't really necessary.

[Anonymous]

I have one kid, and I make choices that conserve my energy. Like we send our kid to a school very close to home. We did't put our kid on a path that led to travel sports. We choose not to travel a ton. We create routines for meals, activities, and socializing and stick to them. Also, I know how to set boundaries. For instance, I decide in advance how much is like to volunteer at the school during the year, sign up for things until I've met that goal, and then politely decline when asked to do more. I'm contributing so it's not like people can get annoyed with me for not pitching in, but I don't bend to guilt trips to contribute time to every event or fundraising campaign.

I wanted very much to be a mom and I'm glad I am, and I think I'm a good one. But I do not think that has to mean I must work tirelessly from sun up to sun down on parenting. I have a job (WFH, solitary work, flexibility to set my own schedule to some degree), a small group of friends, and a couple hobbies. I am a well balanced person and make choices that suit my personality and preferred lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

For starters we don’t have 3 kids
You can imagine the rest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My goal is sometimes keeping the kids alive.

Everybody fed, nobody dead!

[Anonymous]

We're two low-energy parents. One of us stays home. That's really the only way we can make it work. The stay-at-home parent cooks the meals, cleans the house, does drop off and pick up, and the activities merry-go-round. Our high-energy dog walks us, not the other way around.

Our oldest is in college now, so it's less hectic.