I posted here previously about my hardships.
Ya'll, I'm working a full time job and a part time job to make ends meet. I'm gone from 7 am until 8-9 pm. By the time I get home my child is getting ready for bed (having spent the day with her Mom). She wants to play with me. It crushes me. She asks to stay up and play games with me and occasionally I do, but it ultimately wipes me out. Usually I have to get home, eat my food, take a shower, go to bed within 30-40 minutes.
I am so burned out.
If she asks to play, at least 50% of the time I say yes because I of course love her and want to spend time with her and I know she needs that. But when I do, it adds even more exhaustion to my plate. I feel like I never have any time to myself - maybe a few hours on a Sunday. We always spend time on the weekends. I should mention that she's extremely needy and often it's like "What? We just went to the water park two days ago and had the whole day together!" I don't know what more to do. I feel like I can't make her happy. I can't make myself less exhausted. Can't make enough money. This economy sucks.
I keep praying, keep leaning on God, keep meditating, keep listening to scripture, read scripture with her, ... I dont know what more to do. I don't even know how i'm going to make it through this work week, honestly. I keep falling to my knees in prayer. God please pull me out of this or give me the wisdom to learn what you're trying to show me. Please pray. Sigh.
Sometimes, they just want time in your presence. Simple things like cuddling and bedtime stories will be remembered when they're older. :-) Taking 15 minutes to lay down with her and cuddle her to sleep can build that bond or working together to put away toys or straightening her room are things you can do right before bed that don't take long but if done consistently are things that build memories that she will look back on fondly.
If you schedule set times for some activites (calming ones of course), it will be something you can both look forward to and at the same time, creates boundaries/expectations and a set routine. My daughter and grandchild live with me now (thanks to Bidenomics) and we have a schedule on the wall for him to look at and know what is coming next - whether it's time for chores, homework, dinner, bath and bedtime. We found that he thrives when knows what the set routine is. The routine is suspended on the weekends, allowing time for spontaneous walks, bike rides or other random activities.