Mums, it's okay to say "I'm tired" - says expert on avoiding parental burnout
Mothers often juggle an endless list of things to do which can lead to them feeling overwhelmed or burnt out.
For the mums out there, it’s perfectly fine to feel tired, but what’s important is to acknowledge your feelings to your family members so they could understand.
Marriage and family therapist Alycia Lum from Rekindle Therapy revealed there is a huge number of mothers who are very depressed, confused, and have a lot of anxiety.
"However, they don't know or even acknowledge that they are having a hard time.
"With a lot of home chores and responsibilities, they feel tired. In fact, home chores are actually a huge part of a mother's life.
She said if we don’t convey to our loved ones that we are tired, the immediate family members, especially the kids, won’t understand what’s going on.
"So, that is the huge reason we need to acknowledge that mummy is tired," Alycia revealed at the #timetoreconnect campaign launch by dobiQueen.
She also explained that mothers frequently put off spending time with their children, thinking they can make up for it later while we juggle our obligations and manage the demands of careers.
"The development of our children won't wait for us to time it. It's now or never to forge bonds with them, make memories, and shape their characters," she said.
In fact, she also reminded all mothers to spend some quality time with their children by reading them a story, engaging in their favourite hobbies, asking them how their day was, and having a heart-to-heart, eye-to-eye conversation with them.
The #timetoreconnect is a campaign to promote awareness of the energy and time demands of household chores. Women are recommended to wisely prioritise building strong family relationships, which was supported by the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) in partnership with ReKindle Therapy and Caring Moms.
Of course, establishing a healthy household doesn’t fall on the mother’s responsibility alone.
KPWKM assistant director for strategic partnerships, Franzeene Nadia, said the ministry is in support of moving away from traditional gender roles.
"Nowadays, we have moved away from the traditional setting whereby the father is the great winner while the mother is the homemaker.
"In fact, we can now see many men taking up the role of becoming the homemaker as well,” she said.
Franzeena further added that the ministry also has a lot of programmes to uplift women and give them the opportunity to upskill in any aspect, like economics.
