Here I am again, auto-posting a barrage of updates between month-long absences on the blog. There just doesn't seem to be any other way for me to keep up with it all. I am only able to sit down and write this evening because of an early dismissal from work (hurricane/flood watch) that gave me some QT with my girl earlier in the day, and thereby pushing my mommy guilt aside that I am down here typing away while she watches Harry Potter and hollers to me from the other room. Lately, her favorite game is "I'm the mommy!" which means she pretends to leave me at school while she goes to work, and says things like "I'm so sorry I have to leave, but you have to go to school!" and "I'm the mommy, so I pick you up and read stories and sing songs, but not until after I go to work." Pretty much, she breaks my heart at every opportunity.
Overall, this transition for our family continues to go well. I love my job. The school district is, um, the best. The administration are fantastic. My staff are supportive and capable and friendly. The kids work hard and have all the basic skills I would ask of 7th graders. I get to talk about Ke$ha and Gangnam Style and the Kardashians at work because, helloooo, they are 12 and we have lots in common.
It really is great. But it continues to be a tough balancing act. I know I sound like a broken record, and I know this isn't anything new to you parents who have been working outside of the home full-time all along, so I don't mean to sound all "Woe is me," but I do want to share the tough stuff, too.
The tough moments occur on those mornings when Natalie wants to sleep in and cuddle and I have to, literally, pull her out of bed to make it to daycare on time. It's tough not taking a random nap with her every now and then, just for the fun of it. It's tough pinning all kinds of fun activities to do with her, and never taking the time to actually plan out an afternoon to accomplish some of that stuff.
Our weekends are all about recovery--we hunker down, snuggle up, and sleep as much as possible. I haven't felt like the creative & fun mommy that I liked being when I was home the majority of the week. Our house is constantly covered in a layer of mud and peanut butter and leaf remnants, and I don't want to waste any precious time cleaning it up when it means I'm giving up playtime with Nat. Or, let's be honest, a nap for me.
I'm not alone in this, right? I know I keep asking, but here I go again... What are you doing to balance home and work?
Darn, I was hoping some others would have posted suggestions! Cuz I don't really have any, ha.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I keep seeing on other blogs is the usefulness of rising before the little ones in order to get housekeeping stuff done. I manage to do this about once a week. I think the house would be a lot cleaner if I did it more often.
Also, woah, "I'm sorry I have to leave" is brutal!