I spent all day Sunday working in our house. It was in desperate need of attention. The laundry had piled up, the closets were trashed, and it was a mess. Since I wrote my guest post for Melissa's working mom series a LOT has changed...like our life has become very crazy! When I was dreading going back to work when I was pregnant and on maternity leave I loved to look at other working mom's routines, so I am planning on giving updates to our schedule every three months or so. I want others to know it can be done, even if I totally hate it sometimes. :-) It is hard to juggle work, home, and I know that it is hard for stay at home moms too. We are all moms and we all struggle to be good moms. Period. If there is anything that I hate, it is the debate of working moms vs stay at home moms. I will never, ever understand why we can't just all support each other as moms in general, not SAHM vs WM. I think that is one of the bad things about blogging/twitter. A simple comment can stir all kinds of drama without meaning to.
Stepping down off my soapbox now. So, I'm sure you are wanting to see just how our schedule has changed. On September 1, Michael bought a commercial auto detailing business and with that came a lot of changes to our lives and routines. Michael is working LONG hours, 40 minutes away from our house, so he is gone from 6:30 or so to 7:00 or later most days. Needless to say, our 50/50 partnership is over. :-) My work and Nicholas' school schedules haven't changed, it is just our chores and morning routines at home that have changed. In the morning Michael leaves before Nicholas gets up, so I get him up around 6:50-7:00, feed him a "snack" of cereal, fruit, or even a waffle or muffin while I finish getting ready. Around 7:15 I get him out of his highchair and dressed. That is a HUGE battle at our house. He hates getting dressed for whatever reason. Usually I have to bribe him with a toy or a book to keep him occupied, especially in the morning when he just isn't wanting to cooperate. We still leave around 7:20-7:30 and get home between 5:30-6:00, most days, sometimes later. The evening is pretty much the same except I am now responsible for trying to keep the laundry up, buy the groceries, run all of the errands, and keep the house picked up alone now in the two or three hours I have after bedtime and on the weekends. It has been hard, but I'm making it work. Everyone just has to find their own groove. I just wished I had 8 more hours of awake time that I could get as much done at home as I do at work!
There are so many times I just want to walk in and quit my job because I am so overwhelmed, but since that isn't an option, I've had to learn to just let somethings go and not be so hard on myself. HARD when you are type A! Ha! Yes, if I had a choice, I would stay home. I feel like I miss so much of my baby's life and sometimes I worry that he is missing out because I work, but at the same time I have to remember all of the things he is learning at school. He is healthy, happy, and very well rounded. He loves everyone, is very friendly, and he doesn't seem to have any issues from being in daycare. I am very blessed that since I have to work to provide insurance and a steady income for our family, I have a job that I love. We have also been blessed with a wonderful day care that we love. I know that if both were not the case, I would really struggle with leaving Nicholas every day.
I want to encourage those that have to work outside the home that it can be done. It is hard, it is not always fun leaving a baby, having to juggle work and a sick baby, and definitely not fun when you are both sick, but it can be done.
