New mom needs advice: Parents, how do you do it?

There is something major I knew I would struggle with once becoming a parent – learning to let go of all the things I no longer have time for. I just didn’t know it would be so hard!

I’m talking about the fact that I still haven’t found time to bathe the dogs or vacuum. While I can keep up with washing and drying clothes, they’re never completely folded and put away, resulting in piles and baskets of laundry everywhere. Probably about 80% of my pre-baby self-care rituals have been tossed aside, and I’m still struggling to learn how to find the time to cook healthy, homemade dinners again.

Not to mention my friends, who I now go weeks without talking to.

As a super-organized person and an extravert who thrives off time spent with others, none of this has even been my normal.

My girl is 6 months old now, and since she is beginning to become more mobile, I don’t foresee these everyday things getting any easier. We’re slowly creating baby-safe spaces in our house, but with two dogs and something always on the floor, I’m still worried to turn my head for too long.

Our daughter will play independently sometimes, and of course she sleeps, but I find I am using that time to do chores I consider more essential than folding laundry or sweeping – like dishes and paying the bills.

And since I get up at 3 a.m. for work (and occasionally overnight for a bottle), when baby naps, I nap too.

I used to think I was good at multitasking, but these days it’s hard to remember my friends’ birthdays, much less sneak in a workout.

So my question for other parents is: How do you do it?

An awesome mom I know who also wakes up in what some consider the middle of the night told me simply you just learn to make it work. I’m beginning to see how that’s true. Some things may not get done, but the important stuff will get done … sometimes not on time, but eventually. I’m trying to remember another mom’s piece of advice – when you’re looking back at these days with your baby, you won’t care that your house wasn’t clean.

While this is so true, I recognize that I need some level of organization to feel at peace, and it’s okay to prioritize what’s important to me while enjoying my daughter.

What do you wish you had done differently in the struggle to juggle family, work, friends, chores and self-care as a new parent?

Send me a sentence at jpatrick@wral.com.