How do low energy people parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

None of what I listed counts as “parenting”, DP. I save my energy to spend quality time with my kids, which is when parenting actually happens.

I just replied but wanted to add - I personally consider putting my wants/needs secondary to the wants/needs of the kids I chose to have to be a cornerstone of parenting. Letting the school feed them junk for two meals a day and refusing to allow them to participate in any activities that might inconvenience me are not what I would consider parenting, and certainly not good parenting.

So again, do what you want to do but maybe take a break from patting yourself on the back for your efficiency and amazing planning skills. You’re not doing it better, you’re just not doing it.

Your medal is in the mail.

Luckily, many of us don't subscribe to this martyr method of parenting. You might want to take a break from patting yourself on the back for your martyring and amazing sacrificing skills.

I’m not a martyr, I actually enjoy giving my kids a good childhood. YMMV.

Except you're not doing this. What you're doing is role modeling that moms are second class citizens. Don't think your kids don't notice this, because they do, no matter how young they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

None of what I listed counts as “parenting”, DP. I save my energy to spend quality time with my kids, which is when parenting actually happens.

I just replied but wanted to add - I personally consider putting my wants/needs secondary to the wants/needs of the kids I chose to have to be a cornerstone of parenting. Letting the school feed them junk for two meals a day and refusing to allow them to participate in any activities that might inconvenience me are not what I would consider parenting, and certainly not good parenting.

So again, do what you want to do but maybe take a break from patting yourself on the back for your efficiency and amazing planning skills. You’re not doing it better, you’re just not doing it.

Your medal is in the mail.

Luckily, many of us don't subscribe to this martyr method of parenting. You might want to take a break from patting yourself on the back for your martyring and amazing sacrificing skills.

I’m not a martyr, I actually enjoy giving my kids a good childhood. YMMV.

But that’s not what parenting is about!

That’s the problem with modern parenting. It’s very focused on the child’s happiness. Happiness is of course important, but shouldn’t be the primary focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Not backtracking. You just don’t understand hyperbole. Not my problem.

And again, “parent” however you want but you are essentially setting yourself up to be the “fun weekend dad” but pretending that you’re doing everything, and you’re just SO smart that you’re the first person who figured out that NOT doing stuff for your kids is easier than doing stuff for your kids. (Because you need to save your energy to sit around at home at home with them at night and have long meaningful chats, I guess)

I am not the one who started with the criticism, so again, maybe stop pretending to be a superior parent when you’re basically only doing the fun and relaxing parts and paying other people to do all the hard stuff.

Try again. I’m a mom of three who manages to work out daily, maintain a happy marriage and close friendships, meditate, and work FT.

Oh! I also coach my kids’ (before school) sports two seasons a year, schlep them to club swim practice three times a week Sept - May, summer swim five times a week, time/volunteer at all their meets, read to them, listen to them, walk them to and from school. I could go on.

Parents who put their own *needs* after their kids *wants* are missing what it means to parent well. You can’t be there for your kids when you don’t care for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Low energy person with 2 kids here. I think I know my limits, completely holding off on a dog due to this issue.

[Anonymous]

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

Exactly! It starts there.

Cannot imagine a low energy person with 3 kids. Most would have 1 or max 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Not backtracking. You just don’t understand hyperbole. Not my problem.

And again, “parent” however you want but you are essentially setting yourself up to be the “fun weekend dad” but pretending that you’re doing everything, and you’re just SO smart that you’re the first person who figured out that NOT doing stuff for your kids is easier than doing stuff for your kids. (Because you need to save your energy to sit around at home at home with them at night and have long meaningful chats, I guess)

I am not the one who started with the criticism, so again, maybe stop pretending to be a superior parent when you’re basically only doing the fun and relaxing parts and paying other people to do all the hard stuff.

Try again. I’m a mom of three who manages to work out daily, maintain a happy marriage and close friendships, meditate, and work FT.

Oh! I also coach my kids’ (before school) sports two seasons a year, schlep them to club swim practice three times a week Sept - May, summer swim five times a week, time/volunteer at all their meets, read to them, listen to them, walk them to and from school. I could go on.

Parents who put their own *needs* after their kids *wants* are missing what it means to parent well. You can’t be there for your kids when you don’t care for yourself.

Your life sounds utterly exhausting! Not trying to be funny either.

[Anonymous]

OP, you have 3 kids.

[Anonymous]

- Only have 2 kids with a big enough gap between them (5+) so that parenting was a joy.
- Help from parents who stayed with us for several months to help with both babies when they were born.
- DH makes good $$$ so I stayed at home.
- Outsourced cleaning and yard work. Had a weekly cleaner.
- Paid extra to tutors and coaches to come at our house to give lessons at home, so we were not endlessly commuting.
- My kids had a lot of downtime because we are a family that naps.
- My kids turned into bookworms like us, and that meant that they did not have to be entertained all the time.
- No soda and junk food at our home. Limited TV and screen time.
- Control of sugar, good sleep hygiene to have a calm morning
- Daily physical exercise for kids. If it was snowing, they were on the treadmill,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Low energy person with 2 kids here. I think I know my limits, completely holding off on a dog due to this issue.

Fellow low energy person and we will never have a dog and kids at the same time for this reason, and if we get a dog later, it will be an older rescue (NO puppies).

We have a cat and sometimes I feel like he is too demanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- Only have 2 kids with a big enough gap between them (5+) so that parenting was a joy.
- Help from parents who stayed with us for several months to help with both babies when they were born.
- DH makes good $$$ so I stayed at home.
- Outsourced cleaning and yard work. Had a weekly cleaner.
- Paid extra to tutors and coaches to come at our house to give lessons at home, so we were not endlessly commuting.
- My kids had a lot of downtime because we are a family that naps.
- My kids turned into bookworms like us, and that meant that they did not have to be entertained all the time.
- No soda and junk food at our home. Limited TV and screen time.
- Control of sugar, good sleep hygiene to have a calm morning
- Daily physical exercise for kids. If it was snowing, they were on the treadmill,

This started out normal and then really took a turn. You put your kids on a treadmill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Not backtracking. You just don’t understand hyperbole. Not my problem.

And again, “parent” however you want but you are essentially setting yourself up to be the “fun weekend dad” but pretending that you’re doing everything, and you’re just SO smart that you’re the first person who figured out that NOT doing stuff for your kids is easier than doing stuff for your kids. (Because you need to save your energy to sit around at home at home with them at night and have long meaningful chats, I guess)

I am not the one who started with the criticism, so again, maybe stop pretending to be a superior parent when you’re basically only doing the fun and relaxing parts and paying other people to do all the hard stuff.

Try again. I’m a mom of three who manages to work out daily, maintain a happy marriage and close friendships, meditate, and work FT.

Oh! I also coach my kids’ (before school) sports two seasons a year, schlep them to club swim practice three times a week Sept - May, summer swim five times a week, time/volunteer at all their meets, read to them, listen to them, walk them to and from school. I could go on.

Parents who put their own *needs* after their kids *wants* are missing what it means to parent well. You can’t be there for your kids when you don’t care for yourself.

Your life sounds utterly exhausting! Not trying to be funny either.

It’s not, at least not most of the time. The stuff I listed doing for my kids I mostly truly enjoy. I’m ruthless about prioritizing my actual needs and setting boundaries and that goes a long way.

The larger point is one other PPs made, which is that prioritizing your kids wants over your own needs isn’t healthy. It doesn’t do them any favors in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Not backtracking. You just don’t understand hyperbole. Not my problem.

And again, “parent” however you want but you are essentially setting yourself up to be the “fun weekend dad” but pretending that you’re doing everything, and you’re just SO smart that you’re the first person who figured out that NOT doing stuff for your kids is easier than doing stuff for your kids. (Because you need to save your energy to sit around at home at home with them at night and have long meaningful chats, I guess)

I am not the one who started with the criticism, so again, maybe stop pretending to be a superior parent when you’re basically only doing the fun and relaxing parts and paying other people to do all the hard stuff.

Try again. I’m a mom of three who manages to work out daily, maintain a happy marriage and close friendships, meditate, and work FT.

Oh! I also coach my kids’ (before school) sports two seasons a year, schlep them to club swim practice three times a week Sept - May, summer swim five times a week, time/volunteer at all their meets, read to them, listen to them, walk them to and from school. I could go on.

Parents who put their own *needs* after their kids *wants* are missing what it means to parent well. You can’t be there for your kids when you don’t care for yourself.

LOL now who’s backtracking?! First you claim they only do school based enrichment so you don’t have to drive anywhere extra, and now you’re suddenly driving all over the place! AND you do all of the coaching and teaching and volunteering!!! You’re lying about something, here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Not backtracking. You just don’t understand hyperbole. Not my problem.

And again, “parent” however you want but you are essentially setting yourself up to be the “fun weekend dad” but pretending that you’re doing everything, and you’re just SO smart that you’re the first person who figured out that NOT doing stuff for your kids is easier than doing stuff for your kids. (Because you need to save your energy to sit around at home at home with them at night and have long meaningful chats, I guess)

I am not the one who started with the criticism, so again, maybe stop pretending to be a superior parent when you’re basically only doing the fun and relaxing parts and paying other people to do all the hard stuff.

Try again. I’m a mom of three who manages to work out daily, maintain a happy marriage and close friendships, meditate, and work FT.

Oh! I also coach my kids’ (before school) sports two seasons a year, schlep them to club swim practice three times a week Sept - May, summer swim five times a week, time/volunteer at all their meets, read to them, listen to them, walk them to and from school. I could go on.

Parents who put their own *needs* after their kids *wants* are missing what it means to parent well. You can’t be there for your kids when you don’t care for yourself.

LOL now who’s backtracking?! First you claim they only do school based enrichment so you don’t have to drive anywhere extra, and now you’re suddenly driving all over the place! AND you do all of the coaching and teaching and volunteering!!! You’re lying about something, here.

No, I’m not lying, I’m a different poster than the one you first accused of not doing much parenting. That’s what the “DP” from my first response to you means. My most recent response was correcting your assumptions about what I do and how I parent.

There’s more than one of us who disagree with your judgmental, deeply flawed parenting philosophy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Serving your kids breakfast isn’t keeping house. It’s the bare minimum. Sad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 spend an hour a week on laundry, grocery shop 1x a week, kids eat breakfast & lunch at school, cleaning is outsourced, doctors’ visits are minimized. I sign kids up for aftercare enrichment at school so that I don’t need to shuttle them anywhere extra.

It sounds like you are high energy but also highly disorganized. Use some of your high energy to plan better.

DP but it actually sounds like you don’t do much parenting (or anything else, for that matter).

“I have so much energy after I pay other people to do all the things that would require me to expend energy!”

You think because the pp has cleaners and kids eat breakfast and lunch at school that the pp doesn’t parent? Wtf?

I have 3 kids. I also try to sign up for activities at school so I don’t have to do extra driving.

Obviously my response was meant to be an exaggeration, but I do bristle at people who basically outsource their life crowing about how much more efficient they are at daily tasks than others. It’s an utterly useless contribution to a discussion and it makes me wonder if the person making such comments even comprehends that they don’t get tired from keeping house and schlepping kids because… they don’t keep house and schlep kids.

And choosing not to put your kids in activities that would require any extra effort of yours is fine of course, but it is IMO a selfish motivation and therefore also not worthy of bragging about how much more efficient you are at parenting.

DP - no, it wasn't. You just got busted for that BS comment and are backtracking. Parents who use aftercare/afterschool activities don't parent? What in the actual?

Running yourself ragged isn't something to brag about, PP. Putting your kids in activities all over kingdom come isn't the pinnacle of parenting. The OP doesn't *need* to keep house in her case - doing so is taking away from her energy to parent - and as a fellow parent of three, we need all we can get. Stop dumping on people who use energy efficiently, i.e., prioritize being present with their kids over "keeping house" to some 1950s standard.

Serving your kids breakfast isn’t keeping house. It’s the bare minimum. Sad

Some kids don't want to eat breakfast that early, and prefer to get it at school. If you are a plugged in parent, you'd know this.