Showing Up for Your Kids- Regardless…
You know that feeling when work takes everything out of you—emotionally, mentally, even physically—but you still need to show up for your kids?
That’s been me—often—in the past few weeks.
It’s not one big dramatic moment. It’s the slow, steady exhaustion that builds over days filled with meetings, decision fatigue, and holding space for everyone else’s needs. By the end of the workday, I feel hollow. Done. Like there’s nothing left to give.
But then I leave work, and I need to show up as Mum.
I dig deep, not because I’m some superhero, but because I choose to leave something in the tank for them. Even on the days when work has wrung me dry, I try to save a quiet pocket of energy, a little emotional margin, for the people who need me most at home.
And when I don’t have much left, I say it out loud.
“I’m really tired tonight, but I’m so happy to be here now”
Naming it doesn’t make me weaker—it gives all of us permission to be gentle. To be patient. To understand that love still shows up, even when it’s quiet.
Sometimes showing up means shutting my laptop mid-sentence and leaving work as soon as possible—even when that one last email is nagging at me—so I can make it to netball practice. So I can be on the sidelines, watching my daughter practice her shoulder passes. Even if I need to finish that email from the sidelines- I’m there. That matters most!
It means sitting at the dining table, each of us with our laptops open, getting homework done together—even if I barely get through a sentence of my own work. I’m there, beside them, matching their effort with presence. That’s the point.
It looks like snuggling on the couch to read the decodable readers with the little ones—even when we’re all well and truly sick of those strange little stories. We still read. They still curl up close. And thanks to the magic of oxytocin, that tiny routine refuels us all.
Treats help too—like meeting the girls for a slice of cheesecake and a hot chocolate after a long day. Those little rituals fuel the soul. They’re small pockets of sweetness, where we laugh, chat, and just be together. No rush, no roles—just connection.
But more often its the simplicity of falling asleep at 9pm next to the little ones, leaving the kitchen a mess—because the kitchen can wait. The connection can’t.
They don’t need me to be bursting with joy. They just need to feel my presence. To know I’ve chosen them, even when I’m tired. Especially when I’m tired.
There’s something incredibly grounding about that. In a world where work often demands our sharpest focus and our clearest mind, it’s home that calls for our truest self. The stripped-back, worn-out, still-loving version.
And that version? She’s enough.
Because showing up after a long day isn’t about pretending you're fine. It’s about being there—intentionally. Letting your love stretch a little further, even when your energy can’t.
And now, finally, we’re on school holidays. A chance to breathe, to rest, to be together without the rush. A chance to really recharge—so when the next term begins, I’m not running on empty. I’m starting from connection.
