The other thing I do to balance the blah moments of parenting is to have a laugh. It's best in person with friends, but sometimes a chat online, or reading one of my fave mummy bloggers, Constance Hall or Emily Writes, is enough to put my exhausting day back into perspective.
A classic parenting survival tip I've been practising over the holidays, while there's not so much pressure to leave the house on time, is telling the boys to get in the car when I'm still not ready.
Instead of me waiting, nagging and going quietly insane while they go through the excruciating tasks of finding their shoes, putting them on (preferably on the right feet), forgetting then remembering their bags, dragging out the 15 metres from the front door to the car so it takes forever, then turning back to find some random yet critically important toy to take in the car with them, I do something productive - I hang the washing, unload the dishwasher, even just brush my teeth.
It makes such a difference for my outlook.
The other tip - which is really obvious when you think about it - is to be careful about punishments.
Who is the one who really suffers if you ban electronics for a day - or, heaven forbid, in the case of a serious infraction, a whole week? Yep, it's the parents who bear the brunt. I need that blob out time as much as they do.
Another from my personal parenting survival plan includes sleep - simply turning off whatever device has hooked me and going to bed earlier.
Some gentle exercise walking my dog next to the river, or getting sand-blasted at South Beach, is next on the list - research shows that "blue space" or being near water, as well as "green space", has a bonus benefit for mental health, so it's not just physical.
My yoga retreat has given me some great back stretches, so I'm doing those when I wake in the morning and it's making a real difference for this desk jockey.
And the tough one - for me, at least - is breaking the bad habit of looking at social media and news websites as soon as I wake up in the morning.
Although there could be a work-around, to manage my stress levels at least - there are a number of Trump filter apps available so you can give yourself a break from the latest crazy comments from the US president. One even has the feature of replacing any pics of Trump on your news feed with pics of kittens!
But my main tip for surviving 2017 is to be kind to myself, and cut myself some slack, and have that glass of wine or icecream or chocolate - or all three.
Okay, maybe I'll attempt a little balance as a gesture towards good health, but I'm going to do the small things that bring me joy. We've got to survive these parenting - and Trump - years.
-Nicola Patrick is a Horizons regional councillor, a Sustainable Whanganui trustee and works for Te Kaahui o Rauru. A mother of two boys, she has a science degree and is a Green Party member
