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In this Discussion
- Amgr1992 February 2021
- Ammit December 2020
- BestFriend December 2020
- BlaxkDiamond December 2020
- Cheers December 2020
- CoppiLane February 2021
- Ellesmere022 February 2021
- HTRanch December 2020
- Kismet December 2020
- MamaMiaStables December 2020
- PeppermintC January 2021
- Seaswell February 2021
- Windigo December 2020
Mentally Breaking
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So my baby just turned 7 months a couple days ago, and I’m not sure if this is just my experience or if everyone feels this way at some point but... the whole “it takes a village” I hear from everyone, on one hand it is so true, it does require a village, but I also have not heard a bigger falsification in my life. It feels as though I am a one man band with a part time back up singer.
There is too much going into this to type it all out, but I feel mentally broken trying to beg friends and family for help but constantly getting rejected. My back cannot continue to carry him around while I do all my barn work. -
Being a mom broke me too. It's sooooo f-ing hard. They don't tell you how hard it is. People just don't realize that you are drowning even when you are trying to ask for help. If you are mentally able perhaps to make a social media post just saying "I am mentally breaking and in crisis. I need help." Don't sugar coat it don't ask. Make it clear you need help. But I also understand that may be impossible for you to do right now.
The only support I can give is the promise that it gets easier. Every year they get older it's less horrible, but that first leg sucks really bad. You aren't failing, it's this bad for basically all mothers, people just don't talk about it.Need to contact me? Read this first. Only send me a PM for PayPal issues or if I ask you to. Otherwise, make a forum post. You will get a better faster answer by making a post.
I sometimes get busy and miss things. If your private message, question, etc. gets missed please ping me so I can follow up with you. I am also always happy to explain or clarify. (HAJ does not have a customer service email, please send me a forum message! )
she/her -
I wish I could give you some tangible in-person help, but the best I can do is send you a big internet hug. You're doing it! It's so freaking hard especially right now but you're doing it. Like Ammit said, keep telling people you need help if you can. You are worthy of being heard!ID 43830
It's nice to be back! :)
<>| Era 16 project - belton spotted tobianos |<> -
I'm right there with ya hun, my little girl turned 1 on Thanksgiving. Nearly my whole pregnancy, which calling rough was a vast understatement, and all the way up to Sept of this year, my husband worked out of town, only home on weekends, if we were lucky. I had me, myself and I to depend on to tend to every piece of running our farm, taking care of my daughter and her older brother, horses, gardens, everything. My husband would come home tired from work all week and not want to do anything to help. He's slightly more help now that he's home all the time, but mostly it's because I have bat crap crazy moments, for the most part. Hes pretty much an extra kid at times instead of a partner. I hate to ask for help for anything, but there have been times I've taken both the kids to a grandma and been like, here ya go, I'm going to find a way to destress for a while. Even if it's just jumping on the tractor to bush hog, cause that relaxes me. And I'm not proud, but I'll admit I've snapped and yelled at my 5 year old when he didn't deserve it, but it happens when you reach your limit, and I feel really bad about it and try to stop myself from getting to that point now.
Don't be scared to speak up and TELL someone you need a break for a while. This is the hardest damn thing you'll ever do, ever, but it does get easier. Take some you time, even just a long bubble bath, whatever you have to do. Hell, my favorite time of the day is nap time and bed time lol, I'm "off the clock" sort of. Go drop kiddo off with all necessary things and tell em you'll be back later, if that's possible. As far as toting baby around, while doing barn chores, maybe set him/her up close by in a play pen? Plenty of toys and such to keep him/her busy. I try to get my bunch exercised while my daughter takes a nap, I just bring a baby monitor outside and clip it on the fence, volume all the way up, while riding or working my geldings, maybe you could do something like that for barn chores as well. -
@Ammit @HTRanch @Windigo Thank you all so much for the encouraging words, it helps knowing I’m not the only one who has/am experiencing this, it has made me feel like such an awful mother for even feeling this way. But knowing it is normal helps a lot, especially hearing that it gets easier is a boost of encouragement! :x
@Windigo it helps so much knowing that someone understands what it’s like to have a husband similar! My husband works all day everyday (diary owner), so when he is inside for maybe 1-2 hours during the day, he just wants to rest and turn his mind off for a moment, read an article, watch tv, etc. so it’s hard finding time to myself when house chores and the baby are on me. Unfortunately my mother in law is pretty flakey, so I don’t get to count on her help much, one of my sister in laws isn’t available much and my other has four kids of her own and a house to take care of since her husband is co owner in the dairy so she is in a similar boat. My mom just went back to work so she is taking a break from watching him for a few weeks to make sure nothing contagious gets spread, and my sister works nights so it’s pretty limited around here.
I’m not sure if there is a way around bringing him out with me, we don’t have a monitor because our WiFi doesn’t work hardly at all so it won’t connect well, and my barn work is all over the dairy so I have to be able to keep him somewhere near me, but putting him in a playpen bundled in warm clothes might be able to work in some ways though! I’ll definitely have to try to find a way to make that work! -
Big hugs from one of the non-moms on here. I don’t know how y’all do it and I’m awed by y’all. Wish I could give a hand from here...babies are totally not my thing but I could at least bring by dinner for your freezer and take him for the occasional short break as long as you gave me explicit instructions!
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Thank you so much @Cheers! I wish I could take you up on that! He is super sweet, and obviously love him to death, but just a little handful with his busy self
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Lol, Coppi he sounds like my girl, Riata Rose. She stays busy trying to get into things, which mostly drives me nuts but she's so stinkin cute I can't help but laugh at her antics. She's trying her best to walk, but she overthinks it and winds up back in 4x4 mode before she falls. I'm sorry help is so hard for you to find. I wish I could help you out on that. My maw in law lives in my back yard and she will take the kiddos when I need her to. My son thinks he's supposed to live with her or something lol.
If you have to wind up all over the dairy, maybe try rigging up a wagon with a playpen in it?? Just thinking off the top of my head, we have a small trailer/wagon that hooks up to our mower or 4 wheeler that's about the same size as my girls playpen lol. We usually use it to haul firewood or a few square bales when needed, but if you have something like that on the farm, it likely wouldn't take much rigging to make the playpen stay put in it. Then you could drive to where you need to be at the time, set baby up so you can get chores done, and go to the next place, and save your back at the same time.
Lol, just a funny side story, my husband and I were at Walmart shopping a while ago, and wound up down the bike aisle. Opposite the bikes, they usually have weights and such and he was looking at them. I bet him I could curl the 35lb weight. He surely didn't think so, so he took the bet. Loser cooks supper. I curled it 5x. Told him not to doubt my strength, I tote his chunky daughter around all day every day and put out 100lbs of horse feed daily, not to mention hay. He sure can cook a great steak lol. -
@Windigo yes, they are so similar! My boy just always has to be touching and fiddling with something, when he’s in his jumpy he will play with everything with this look on his face that shows just how seriously he takes it, like it’s his job to tinker and fiddle around with things. He hasn’t quite got crawling down yet, but he manages to get around really well anyways so we have to make sure he doesn’t get into things or start chewing wires.
Well, my chores are feeding the calves, so I fill bottles at the milk barn, pull a cart of 35 full quart bottles about 300 yards or so (awful at guesstimating though), and back and forth. Then if there’s new calves I have to go about 500 yards the other way to take care of them and walk them back to the hutches, so I’ve been having a hard time finding a way to easily take him along. I could use his stroller, but it’s pretty tiring pushing him with one hand and pulling a full cart with the other lol.
Lol! If my husband was able to cook I would do that more often! It seems they really don’t understand how much of a workout it is to pack those little ones around all the time lol -
Big hugs.
I wish more people talked about how hard the first two years are for a mom. Every kid. Every time. They are just so much work for such cute little beings.
I have absolutely no advice other than to look at battery operated monitors. Those things were around long before wifi, and have a decent range. Walkie talkies work too with a rubber band on their end, if you need more range.
Do you have any other young moms nearby you could trade out kid time with? Even a couple of hours once a week goes a long way, and I can tell you from much experience that multiple kids, even at that age, are easier to care for than just one. They think it's a playdate.
I know covid makes things extra hard, but if they practice similar safety as yourself it might be just what you need.45120 -
I wish I could give you a hug and tell you that everything will be alright.
I have a ten month old son, so I completely understand your struggle. The little buggers are heavy, and they get into everything!
My fiancé and I have been a two-man show because our reliable family members, his retired mom and my unemployed mom, live in other states.
I'm a stay at home mom currently and it would be fun as heck to help you out, and let our boys play. If only!✿ Kismet | #38280 | Bootstrapping Excellence ✿ -
Huge hugs. I hear you. My kids are grown now, but I was there. My first husband wasn't huge on listening to "I need help". Neither was his family or mine. My son was born two months early, due to me having preeclampsia. (Whole different story, he thankfully was fine.) Unfortunately he had really bad colic because of it. I was up most nights almost all night with him and then had to work all day the next day at the lab. I hated not being able to be at home with him, but I paid our bills while my ex went to grad school. We lived on crockpot meals, my baby slept on my chest on the couch, and loved anything that would vibrate on his tummy. I ended up buying a Mayan sling and strapping him to me to get things done. It saved my back. He rode in it until he was two. (But he was always VERY small. He still wore 18 month clothes at that time.)
My daughter, on the other hand, who was also born early due to preeclampsia, was huge. She grew out of my Baby Bjorn in no time, and I didn't have my Mayan Wrap anymore. But she loved playing in one of those round activity stations. I would bring it into the kitchen with me while I was doing anything (I was thankfully able to stay at home with her for a while before going back to work.). If I worked in the yard, I would use the playpen. Again, we didn't have much help from family. My second husband's family lives in England, and my family lived 8 hours away. We still lived off of crockpot meals for a while. Or pizza. But there is zero shame in that. The easier the meal, the better. I kept a stock of frozen dough (store bought), small potatoes, baby carrots, onions, various meats and beans, and canned tomatoes and veg. They were thrown into the crockpot in various ways, and supper. Soup mixes too. Freezer meals are good too. (Maybe the husband will even give one a go? Wishful thinking?)
Don't be scared to ask for help. Like Ammit said, if you're able, make that post. Let people know where you stand. People don't realize how hard it is those first couple of years.
Remember this:. Laundry doesn't need to be folded. Beds don't have to be perfect. It's okay if you didn't get everything sparkling clean.
Take care of you too. It's important. -
It was so hard that first year that we actually had to make a list of priorities to help take the mental load down.
First was "baby clean and fed" Second was "parents clean and fed". Parent mental health was put above a screaming kid. There WILL be times when you have to put a mad baby down and walk away and go sit in another room and cry by yourself or scream into a pillow or otherwise have a breakdown. People don't talk about the intrusive thoughts but they can really mess you up. Give yourself permission to put baby someplace safe and walk away for 5 minutes if you are in crisis. A mad baby is better than a harmed baby or momma.
We had to put things like house cleaning way down the list. It gave us permission to only focus on survival. Everything else became unimportant. Forget "not sparkling clean" It's ok if your house is a war zone. Safe is the only thing that matters. As long as the baby is safe and fed the rest of the house can totally fall apart. It doesn't matter. Just getting through maters.Need to contact me? Read this first. Only send me a PM for PayPal issues or if I ask you to. Otherwise, make a forum post. You will get a better faster answer by making a post.
I sometimes get busy and miss things. If your private message, question, etc. gets missed please ping me so I can follow up with you. I am also always happy to explain or clarify. (HAJ does not have a customer service email, please send me a forum message! )
she/her -
I’m so sorry you’re struggling hugs.
I second the playpen, me and my friend would work with our horses while her son played in the playpen with a kitty as a babysitter. Sometimes he’d scream and there was no way we could go calm him down and he just got to cry. He wasn’t damaged by it. When he got a little older they set up a trampoline with a net. We locked him in their with toys a water bottle and sometimes his dog. We would ride and work our four legged youngsters that way. There is nothing like a kid jumping on a trampoline to use as a desensitization tool, lol. I can see myself putting a playpen in an extra stall in the calving barn while I feed and water, that way if I’m out of sight and earshot I know they’d be safe. -
I am sorry you are struggling. It does get better. I didnt have a help and I am still raising two teenage boys. I have had horses since before the boys were born. I took a play pen and set it up outside of the arena where I could keep an eye on the playpen.
Dont be afraid to ask for help. I wish I had done it early on when raising my kids. It has been an eye opener for me. I snap to I dont know a single mom that doesnt at some point. Take care of yourself though and it will help you to take care of the little one better to.
If you meditate do it. I wake up early in the morning to have 30 minutes to myself before the day starts with my family. Never be afraid to ask for help. We are all here we might not be able to help physically but we all can listen and try to help come up with a solution. -
I hope you are doing better. We say "It takes a village" all the time, though sometimes it feels like the "village" is down to 2 people. I remember doing stalls with a baby in a front pack... (not mine, I have none, he is my boss's) it's hard! I have been roundly scolded by my chiropractor for carrying the now 3 year old around (he is big, in the 90th percentile for height, and I am small).
I think sometimes people don't realize it is the simplest things that need doing, because your hands are full. Maybe make a task list and ask a couple people to just do one thing, to take it off your plate? It really does show who is and isn't someone to lean on when you reach out for support and no one is getting it. -
@PeppermintC thank you so much for checking on me <3 it has gotten better since we were able to hire a babysitter for days I had to take him out or if people had to cancel. It’s still a bit hectic but that’s life, especially with a baby! <br />You are one of the few without children that seems to understand just how hard it can be, ive reached out to many people I consider close friends, but in all 9 months of his life none of them have watched him even when asked. But I try to remind myself that they have their own life too that they have to juggle
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I'm so glad you were able to find an occasional babysitter. They can be a real lifesaver for the first few years.45120
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@Seaswell thank you :) they really have been!
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@CoppiLane I wish I could hug you! From one mom to another its freaking hard. I have twin 2 year olds and an 8 week old. Postpartum hit hard and fast aided by the fact that it never truly went away. Unfortunately I basically shut down leading my partner to do 90% of the childcare and household chores. They have now put me on antidepressants and we are really hoping that it works. We are in the stage where the girls want to potty train and little man is always hungry. Its really really hard. I hope it gets better for you :x
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@CoppiLane
I don't have children yet but as the much older child, I helped my mother through the first years of two children.
Remember - the days where everyone is still alive and well at the end are good days.
Have you tried reaching out to the local community? There may be a group somewhere of other new mothers in your area who might be able to help you. I imagine it must be super difficult with covid, but you are not alone.
Sending huge hugsID - 47350 (Most Licences) Breeding heavy. Carry it Forward Project - Snf, Kp, Dp, Df, Sa and Sb2. Welsh Dreams - Full of fantasies
My Buddy chat is: https://hj2.huntandjump.com/buddy_chat.php?chatid=1170
HAJ 1-Mitchell022/HAJ 2-Ellesmere022 WelshValley/HAJ 3-ThatLeatherSmell -
@Amgr1992
I hear you! I’m really sorry to hear that you’ve been going through that, but hope that the antidepressants will help! I’m already on them myself, so when my postpartum hit I didn’t really talk to anyone about it and wound up finding myself resenting both my husband and my baby. I haven’t told anyone about that until now, but I’m sure you understand. Please reach out if you ever need anyone to talk to, I understand completely!
@Ellesmere022
Thank you, that is a really good idea! Unfortunately I’m in a very small area (less than 1500 in my town) so the little mom community around me isn’t very big. Thankfully I was able to find the babysitter, one of my sister in laws offered for a set day, and one of my old co workers/friends is very flexible and willing and able to take him on days that get dropped last minute. I’m very thankful for all their generosity, it just came from unexpected people :) -
@CoppiLane I do understand completely. I found myself really resenting more so the twins. They are getting to be too much right now and making so im pumping/nursing less than I need to. But I know its just the postpartum and ill get through it. I am here as well if you never need to reach out!