ECE considering career change after having a baby... Anybody else felt the same?
My LO will turn one the following tuesday! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I can't imagine my life without him! However, ever since I went back to work at the begening of january (after a year long maternity leave), I just don't enjoy motherhood or my work anymore... There isn't enough time in the week (for my LO, for me, for my partner, for our chores, for my work...) and I am losing my mind! I come back from work mentaly and physicaly drained (because I currently have the most challenging group of children of my entire career), and then there is still dinner left to make, then bathtime and the bedtime routine... And when 7PM hits, I put LO to bed and I also go to bed because I am just so exhausted... I don't have time to myself and I can't to do chores because of the fatigue...
I know that this is probably how all mothers feel once they go back to work (and I know I am very lucky to have had one year of maternity leave), but I just feel like if I worked in another field, I might be less exhausted at the end of the day, if that makes sense... For example, for the past year, I have seen my SO work from home on his laptop and it just seems so chill... He takes breaks whenever he wants, he plays on his phone and on his gaming computer while he works, he even takes one hour "breaks" (while he is paid ofc) to go shovel snow outside... Meanwhile, at work I have a hard time taking my 30 minute breaks during naptime because I have two kids with autism who just don't sleep and won't lay on their bed calmly... I am not able to just sit and play with my group because I have to constantly be on alert ; my kids flee from our room, they bite each other (they are between 3 and 4 years old)... I feel like a prison guard all day long, it's exhausting! It's honestly so hard to go back to work in these conditions. I wonder if I should change my career because I just don't enjoy work anymore and I am not the mother I want to be at the end of the day, because I am physically and mentally drained...
Has anybody else been through this? Did it pass or did you just feel like shit until your kids got older or until you left your career in ECE?