Parent Discussion Topic: Work Family Balance part 2

Balance.  I find myself pondering what it means and how to find it constantly.  Like any parent, I feel like I have a lot of personal demands that require me to constantly shift and readjust my equilibrium.  Now that I have also started working -- think nomadic Jack of all Trades and you might get an idea of what I'm doing -- I find that all those things I was trying to balance out before with limited success also has to accommodate the demands of my various jobs.

Quite honestly I do not know how you people who work full time outside of the home do it.  My hat is off to you because I can't figure it out.  I don't really care if my house gets clean or if there is clutter every where -- it isn't my first choice, but I can live with it -- it's feeling like I am actually being the parent I want to be while doing the work that I both want and need to do.

This summer was the biggest juggling act we've attempted so far.  Hubby and I had to coordinate our schedules so that he could get writing and research done and I could get writing and yoga done and the kids would still have a parent home to take care of them.  If it weren't for the joys of the academic calendar, I don't think we would have managed.   If he'd had a regular 40+ hour a week job, I would not have been able to get done what I needed to do. 

I know in families where both parents work full-time the kids go to day care, but we've never done that before.  I haven't had any type of job in 10 years, and what I do now doesn't pay enough to cover day care costs.  When I was 10 I was staying home alone and taking care of myself while my parents worked.  But that isn't going to happen here.  My most responsible child is only 8 and as the middle kid is in no way prepared to be in charge of both siblings as well as himself.  Besides, even if they managed to get along for any length of time with out a moderator, I cannot for a moment stand to imagine what they would do to our house. No, my kiddos can't be home alone all day; in fact the very idea of that just makes me sad.

Thankfully school has started again, and it is so much easier to juggle the needs of my jobs with the needs of my children.  Obviously they come first.  And I do worry about the first time I am supposed to work and I get a call from the school nurse telling me one of my kids has a fever and needs to come home.  My stomach actually turns at the thought of juggling that situation. 

What I need to recognize is that we're in the midst of a sharp learning curve.  None of us has the answers to how to make this whole thing work, but we are team working to figure it all out together.  I know that I have the love and support of my family to go out on these new ventures of mine and I would not trade that for the world.  I recently heard L tell someone that he was proud of me.   It was unprompted.  Even though the job was taking time away from him, he was proud of what I was doing.  I'm going to try to remember that the next time I feel like this balancing act is getting to be too much.

How do you find balance?  Do you schedule in time for you, for your partner, your family?  Did you give up a job because it was too difficult to find a way to balance it all?  How does your family make their work and family life come together?  I love learning from your experience.  So thanks in advance.