Why am I too exhausted and overstimulated to parent?
Heavy workloads and constant financial pressure leave parents with zero bandwidth left over at the end of the day. This extreme burnout and overstimulation makes it impossible to manage children's behavior or parent properly.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
- This comes up 12.4× more often in r/Parenting than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1relying on screens or iPads to occupy childrenDid this help you?
- 2removing obstacles or over-coddling childrenDid this help you?
- 3blaming generational trends or external factors like covidDid this help you?
- 4lowering performance standards and doing the bare minimum to surviveDid this help you?
- 5telling a trustworthy colleague or administrator early for support and coverageDid this help you?
- 6taking sick days to restDid this help you?
- 7packing emergency kits with snacks, water, mints, spare clothes, and emesis bagsDid this help you?
- 8delegating tasks to students to minimize physical movementDid this help you?
- 9napping during lunch breaksDid this help you?
- 10Hire a cleaning lady to come once per weekDid this help you?
- 11Do laundry on weekendsDid this help you?
- 12Make simple mealsDid this help you?
- 13Meal planning on SundayDid this help you?
- 14Push through with mental resolveDid this help you?
- 15Dating intentionally and discussing tough questions and parenting expectations early onDid this help you?
- 16seeking professional helpDid this help you?
- 17drinking alcohol every night to copeDid this help you?
- 18overworking to cope with internalized pressureDid this help you?
- 19taking on multiple volunteer and caregiving responsibilitiesDid this help you?
- 20pushing through physical injuries to maintain household choresDid this help you?
- 21relying on the hope that things will become easier as children reach school ageDid this help you?
- 22consulting parenting wikis and development resourcesDid this help you?
- 23Focusing on early bedtime routines to secure personal timeDid this help you?
- 24Relies on limited local family helpDid this help you?
- 25Switching children to schools closer to home to reduce commute stressDid this help you?
- 26turning almost everything into a gameDid this help you?
- 27taking it day by dayDid this help you?
- 28trying to give each other a day off every now and thenDid this help you?
- 29spending weekends catching up on household chores and extra-curricular tasksDid this help you?
- 30waiting until falling physically ill before taking a day offDid this help you?
- 31scheduling a preventative day off every month or every few weeksDid this help you?
- 32hiding the nature of the time off from unsupportive administrationDid this help you?
- 33putting on a fake smile and pretendingDid this help you?
- 34relying on duty rather than love to keep goingDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My body and my mind are simply exhausted and my immune system has been pushing off illnesses just so I can make it through another day.”source ↗
“Everything is awful and everyone is burnt out.”source ↗
“I just hit 6 weeks pregnant today and the exhaustion/ come and go nausea just continues to get worse.”source ↗
“I have been teaching for 7 years so I am very familiar with beginning of year exhaustion but this is just to a whole new level.”source ↗
“I am so nervous about what the next few weeks have in store and how I’m going to cope.”source ↗
“I’m so so so burnt out and overstimulated.”source ↗
“Everyone has to work, and work SO much now. It is exhausting and people don't have the bandwidth to parent properly anymore.”source ↗
“I’ve never taken one. I usually only take off if I’m really sick. But I might take some this year. I’m mentally burned out.”source ↗
“I would rather schedule a day off and know it’s coming than hit my breaking point and be forced to take one.”source ↗
“It feels suffocating. How did our grandmothers do it?”source ↗
“I still feel like I’m absolutely not enough. Like there’s always more I need to do, always things I should be helping with, always more love and support I should be giving my kids and husband.”source ↗
“I’m just tired. And sometimes I’m really tired of someone needing me or needing something from me.”source ↗
“Sometimes I feel like I love my kid, but I don’t always love being a mom. It’s exhausting being strong all the time.”source ↗
“It’s exhausting never hardly getting anytime for yourself without being needed for something. Can’t even watch a TV show in peace.”source ↗
“I’ve got a toddler a bit over two years old and a baby that’s almost four months. We are going pretty good but there are many days I go through anxieties, frustration and just pure exhaustion whilst juggling the two.”source ↗
“Is it true that things get slightly easier with age, or is it just as hard until God knows when?!”source ↗
“Right now, parenting just isn’t fun.”source ↗
“Our entire days revolve around keeping them happy, and we barely get any time to ourselves because it’s too difficult to be alone with both of them. By the end of the day, we’re completely exhausted.”source ↗
“I don’t regret having kids but right now I envy those without…”source ↗
“I’m experiencing it myself.. my partner and I had a great relationship before our son was born, and now we are about to end things.”source ↗
“We have 3 kids 5 & under with our youngest being 4mo and we are in survival mode.”source ↗
“It feels like each day is just trying to make it through to the next nap or bedtime.”source ↗
“I feel like im failing at parenting now that im working.”source ↗
“Like I just avoid parenting.”source ↗
“I just dont have the patience I once had for parenting or house work.”source ↗
“I’m now 42 with 3 kids, a husband, a house, and I too struggle with the idea that I’m not enough.”source ↗
“It’s so fucking hard.”source ↗
“I legit was thinking this morning that duty is a more powerful driver than love. I love my kids, but if I wasn't responsible for keeping them alive, I would have peaced out for a quiet beach months ago.”source ↗
“It is so exhausting and frustrating especially when people tell me I need to do more self care or whatever. As a single parent of two kids with disabilities and no village, how the heck does self care exist?”source ↗
“I am 21m and I’m exhausted. I’ve been working as an intern staff accountant but work full time hours since I was 19(in industry), going to school full time(in senior year), work part time.”source ↗
“Recently I’ve been so tired and lazy and I haven’t been able to relax. I got the chance to on the weekend and I felt like I was wasting time doing nothing and angsty.”source ↗
“School has been kicking my butt this semester and it’s all accounting, intermediate 2, tax, and cost. They don’t seem hard and I know the material but when the test comes I blank and do bad.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 49Why am I so tired and burnt out teaching?
- 19How to handle severe work burnout and zero motivation
- 3How to handle after school meltdowns from an overtired child who won't nap
- 17How to survive year-round mandatory overtime in public accounting
- 18How to recover from severe travel burnout and flight dread
- 26Why does manual labor make you question your life choices?