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Inspiration

For International Women’s Day, I Want It All — Just Not All at Once

Editor of <a href=”https://www.nowtolove.com.au/mother-and-baby” target=”blank”> Mother & Baby magazine Erin Mayo realizes it’s OK not to be Superwoman all of the time._

As a young girl growing up in the 80s and 90s, the idea that I could have it all in life didn’t seem so far-fetched. Power suits were in, women were climbing the corporate ladder all while maintaining their perfect families behind white-picket fences.

Fast-forward 30 years, and while I still believe that I can have it all, I’ve come to the realization that it just may not be all at once… and that’s totally OK.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Gail Kelly, the former head of St George Bank. In an interview with The West Australian last year, the mom-of-four pressed that while women can have it all, they just need to accept that they cannot do it all.

“There are some choices that you make that actually involve not being everywhere that you’d like to be all at once,” she said.

via GIPHY

A recent survey by Bauer Media found that 74 percent of moms say their stress levels have increased since starting a family, while one in three moms say they are constantly tired. The pressures of keeping up with the kids, housework, and career appear to be taking a toll. In the quest to become the perfect wife and mother in our homes and employee in our workplaces, we’re burning ourselves out.

A working mom friend of mine recently revealed the list of activities and chores she completes before she heads off to work each day. In between packing the school lunches and getting herself dressed and ready for the day, she unloads several loads of laundry, unpacks the dishwasher, fits in a gym session, and prepares dinner for later that night. I was exhausted just hearing it, let alone doing it! No wonder she was, too.

I’m not saying you have to choose career over family or vice versa. But perhaps it’s time to stop perpetuating the superwoman myth and let some of the small things slide to lighten the burden we place on ourselves. So what if our white picket fence looks a little worse for wear sometimes? If our heads are clear, our hearts (and families) are happy, it’s OK to not have it all. At least not all at once.

This post was written by Erin Mayo. For more, check out our sister site, Now to Love.

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