As moms, we can often feel like we have to do everything on our own. If we aren’t the sole caregiver, we aren’t a good enough mom. If we aren’t making baby food from scratch and harvesting our own crop, then we’ve failed. We set ourselves up for failure by trying to do it all and never ask for help.
Today’s mom is under so much pressure.
So much so, that we are almost shamed into not asking for help. We feel like asking for help is a sign of weakness, of bad mothering, of some lame thing that society has caused to think.
And that is NOT okay!
I think so many of us reach the point of needing help and go hurtling past it. We give ourselves pep talks about how we can handle whatever it is and that other moms seem to be fine so we should too.
Asking for help should not have a negative connotation.
So how do you know when it’s time to ask for help?
For me, I know it’s time to ask for help when I can feel the walls closing in. And if I’m being truly honest, I should have asked for help long before that feeling. I, too, fall into the trap of thinking I should be able to do it all and be it all for everyone.
The real answer to knowing when it’s time to ask for help is whenever you feel like you need it. Whenever you feel like you want it. Whenever you feel like it is a pie in the sky request.
Instead of slogging through and keeping up appearances, how much better could your day-to-day be if someone was there with you? If you could have a small break to collect your thoughts? If you could speak to someone who understood?
Help can come in all forms. You may need a friend to come over and help you clean, you may need to go see a therapist, you may need your partner to take on a responsibility that you no longer can keep up.
Whenever you feel like it’s time – it’s time! So, please – know that you are not alone in this motherhood journey. You are not meant to go it alone. So ask.
