Blog · October 2026 · Family
I don't know how she does it
A thank-you to my wife, written by someone who gets a full night's sleep and still can't keep up.
I genuinely don't know how she does it. We're both 36 now. Our baby is six months old, which means my wife hasn't really slept in about six months. I've tried to keep up. I can't.
It started with the surgery. There was no gap after it, no stretch of recovery of any kind, just straight into sleepless nights and feeds around the clock. And somehow, through all of that, she's still managing everything with a smile.
Her rally
Every one of these is a shot she gets back over the net. Tap to play the next one.
- Night feeds, for six months and counting
- Recovering from surgery, without ever really getting to rest
- Keeping the house looking beautiful
- Coming up with new dishes and passing them on to our cook
- Keeping our meals interesting and healthy
- Time, every day, for our four-year-old
- Dental care and everything else for our two dogs
- Getting fitter after a second C-section
- Doing so well at work she's being recognised while on maternity leave
- Planning a trip for all of us
- And doing all of it with a smile
Game, set and match. I'm still looking for the ball.
And that's not even the whole list. She's finding time for our elder one, now four, with patience I didn't know a person could have on that little sleep. She's on top of the dogs, right down to their dental care. She's figuring out what we eat, keeping it interesting and healthy, and routing new dishes to our cook. The house still looks the way she wants it to look.
On top of that she's getting fitter after a second C-section, and she's excelling at work, so much so that she's getting rewards while she's on maternity leave.
Match stats
An honest comparison. It isn't close.
Her vs me
| Her | Me | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 36 | 36 |
| Last full night's sleep | Before the baby | Last night |
| Recovery time after surgery | None, really | n/a |
| Planned the trip | Yes | No |
| Birthday effort | Everything above | A bouquet |
| Overwhelmed | Hides it well | Regularly |
The proof
Tap a photo to see it bigger.
It isn't all easy. There are hard days, and I won't pretend there aren't. But from somewhere, and I honestly don't know where, she finds the energy anyway. I'm the one getting a full night's sleep, and I'm the one who feels overwhelmed by how busy our life has become.
She still planned a trip. For her birthday, I barely managed a bouquet of flowers. So consider this page the rest of the present.
The bouquet, upgraded
One flower for every thing she carried this year. Keep tapping.
1 flower
That was my birthday effort.