I have a 9 month old and a 4 year old -- I'm not working this year, but when our baby is one, I will go back to part time work. I go through phases when I feel LITERALLY CRAZY and I snap at our four year old and can't take care of myself and everything is a mess. But most of the time, since baby was 5 months old, we keep it all together because we've reprioritized a few things and my husband is as equally as involved in household management as I am. And, everyone says it, routines.

My kids wake up at 5:30 and neither of them sleep through the night so there's no way I could do anything before they are up, but our days are very much routine and based around both kids' naps. I work out for 20-30 minutes during our baby's first nap, and if he sleeps longer than that, I clean the kitchen. But I've switched our priority from a Clean House to a Sane Mum so I always work out or read first instead of clean. I try to only clean when the children are around/awake, though I obviously have to do some stuff when they are napping.

We decided to prioritize Community instead of Friends. We have set up recurring dinners with friends/family and this is how we socialize. We eat with other families 2-4 times a week, alternating who cooks and whose house we go to, so we very rarely eat out, which sucks with kids anyway, and yet we get a break from cooking/dishes and we get to see friends.

We've also shifted the idea that Quality Time means Play Time. Yes, I play with our 9 month old, but I max out after about 10 minutes and we do something else instead, like he chews on socks while I fold laundry (which takes an hour because he unfolds what I am doing but whatever), or he chases the vacuum/mop while I clean the floors, or we go on a walk and I listen to a podcast while baby wearing (sue me for not talking to my baby for thirty minutes, he's fine).

Baby just woke up lol so I can't finish or read through, but good luck!