Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Working for a Living
A while ago, I read an article that indicated we were spending 45 minutes less a day with our families than in previous generations. That article, and that number, has been on my mind ever since.
I am a working mom. I was a working mom. When BananaMuffin turned one, I went back to work part-time. I worked Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - and occasionally Mondays and Fridays if things got busy. We would get up, pack diapers and clothes for daycare, try to squeeze some breakfast in (more than once I ate my bagel in the car on the way to drop-off), sometimes find time for a shower, get dressed, and get to work. Scotian would drop me off at 8:30 - which is when we both needed to be at work despite the fact he had a 45 minute commute across town. He would leave work early to pick me up at 5, we would rush to daycare to pick up BananaMuffin, get supper ready, get her bathed and into bed. We had very little downtime as a family. Very little time period. It really seemed as though we were existing instead of living. BananaMuffin was constantly overtired and cranky at the end of the day, which put us all on edge. Weekends were spent trying to keep BananaMuffin on a routine while still spending some time together. Meanwhile, I was pregnant with Spunky and also running Nurtured.
Spunky was born, and while I was no longer working outside the home, my self-employment has continued. It isn't easy - I put in more hours now than I did when I worked for someone else, mostly well into the evening and wee hours of the morning. I don't make as much money as I used to. But I spend all day with my kids. We play, we attend playgroups, we do crafts, we go to the beach, take walks, spend time together. But mom gets very little downtime and there is little time for Scotian and I to just relax together. I'm still working toward reaching that balance. Overall, we're not nearly as rushed, and that has had a huge impact on our lives.
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