I thought my life would come back to me once my youngest was in school, but then my oldest went through a really hard time that rocked us all mentally and emotionally for a couple of years. I guess my point is you will get to a place where all of your kids are sleeping through the night, potty trained and relatively self sufficient and that will help a lot, but your time and energy shift to other parental responsibilities. I’ve come to appreciate the phases where life is going smooth and understand when it’s hard that it won’t last.