Hi everyone, welcome to the operation optimism podcast. I’m your host, Katrina Chavez. I am a work-from-home Mom. I’m a recovering emotional spender. I’m a book Enthusiast. I’m on a mission to declutter and overall, I’m a glass-half-full kind of gal or at least most days.Life as a woman in today’s society can feel very isolating, especially as a mom and it can be hard to find someone who gets it without judging you or like talking behind your back, you know, you ALL know those people! I’m here to hopefully help you feel like you’re chatting with a friend who embraces you for who you truly are not who society expects you to be. I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s jump into today’s episode.

Hi everyone, welcome back to operation optimism podcast. I am so happy you’re here. I feel like it’s been ages.What a decade October was… am I right, anybody else?So I’m here today because I saw this meme floating around and if you saw this post about it on Instagram, I mean, you kind of know where I’m coming from.

But today I’m just going to break it all down – and with a little bit of feedback from a very loyal viewer, this is going to be longer than my normal podcast have been. I’m shooting for like 20 to 30 minutes and with a longer podcast comes more prep. And the first time I’ve actually sat down and wrote notes on everything. I want to say- so bear with me if you hear pages flapping… that was me. Okay jumping right in… so this meme, or like graphic, I guess you could say and, I’m not knocking the person that made it or posted it. If you shared this before like I have no judgment, but I feel like it’s very hard to see the positive and things like this and you just kind of self-sabotage and nit pick yourself like especially as a new mom or seasoned mom for that matter, but I really wanted to get into how we can rewire your thinking to do a little switch in your mind. So the picture the graphic says “the invisible load of motherhood: stay at home Mom Edition” and there’s 12 things here that I guess you could call pain points or things that we “struggle with” as moms. I just want to help you out.

So the first one is isolation. It’s interesting how we can feel lonely and is if we are the only ones feeling this way but millions are in the same boat as we are. You’re definitely not alone. Your struggle might be unique, but the feelings are ones that so many others are having right now. There might be like this little Invisible String connecting you to so many others and it may help you to remind yourself of this. That this too shall pass what you can do to find a flip to this feeling is if you have friends Marco Polo or video chat, reach out about what’s going on because I guarantee that she will be there for you to lean on and lift you back up. I feel like we all rise together, we can’t do it alone. And if you don’t have any friends… become your own best friend! I say this because as uncomfortable as it might be to be alone, the way that you treat yourself and how you show up for yourself matters. So be kind to yourself and lift yourself up.

Number two is feeling undervalued. First of all, you’re not a housekeeper. You aren’t the lunch lady. You aren’t the personal assistant to an entitled to your old demanding her 10 snack of the day. You are a wavemaker who is constantly evolving as a human. What you’re doing matters. It is the most impactful job that feels very mundane until you shift your mindset.

And note that if you are feeling under appreciated, it may be a huge help to bring this up to your spouse. I believe that housework should be a two-person job or more. I mean if you have children who are fully capable...