Often people ask me “how do you do it?” They are referring to doing a full time job, raising a family, blogging, gardening, and keeping a “perfect” house. Well let me be the first to say my house is NOT perfect…. remember looks can be deceiving. Some people call me Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart, since I am always trying something new in the kitchen. Most of the time I feel like a clown trying not mess up a juggling act.
From the time I was a child I never imagined myself as a stay at home mom. I always imagined that I would work. Actually I imagined myself as a teacher, which is what I am. Staying at home never entered my mind. I am not sure why I never had the desire to be a stay at home mom. I have just always been driven to get an education and work outside of the home.
I have a rule when it comes to work and family and that rule is, “family comes first.” I do not work at home and I do not work after hours. When I am home I am home. Most teachers grade papers, call parents, respond to emails, and work on lesson plans at home. I don’t, I did before I had kids, but now my off the clock time is family time. The decision to not work after hours does not make me a bad teacher, but it does let my family know that they are important to me and that they deserve my time. I think that many working moms make the mistake of putting their career ahead of their family.
The answer to the question, “how do I do it?” is two fold:
- I have a wonderful partner in life who helps out. David realizes that child care and house work is not just a woman’s work. He helps out in all areas with the kids and the house. He also works full time but still makes time to help maintain and manage our household.
- I follow my rule of leaving work at work.
Being a working mom is a balancing act that is sometimes very hard to manage. I can’t say that I am perfect at finding the balance between the two, but I think I do a pretty good job. Over the coming weeks I will be posting my tips and tricks for finding balance between work and home life.
Tags: balance work and home life, Rule for working moms, working mom, working mom guilt, working mom rules, working mom schedule