It's been over a month and the topics are starting to overflow a journal that I carry with me everywhere I go, from the grocery store to hockey practice. It has been over a month and it is time to devote time to share these ideas before I find myself blogging months of thoughts all at once. There are times throughout the year that truly amaze me when it comes to "being busier than you want to be." These times seem to come in cycles. It seems I am just coming off one of these "cycles".
Ok, now that I have my excuses out of the way, time to share some recent thoughts.
As my children get older and I become more involved in the extra curricular activities, the conversations with other moms are plentiful. Who doesn't want adult conversation at some point in your day. The one question I receive from other mom's time and time again is "How do you like being at home?" I realized today that my answer is always the same. "I love it but I am busier than I have ever been." Does this sound familiar? How can this be possible? How can you be busier working from home than when you are getting up on a daily basis, getting multiple children and in many cases a spouse ready to start a day in "out of house" locations? The house work is still there and in many cases ignored for longer periods of time because you are too darn tired to worry about it when you get home. You have all you can do to decide what to put on the table for dinner.
Of course the answers to these questions would be different for all moms but I felt I needed to find these answers for myself. After much thought I decided that part of my dream of staying home with my children was because I wanted to become more involved in their every day activities. Yes I am still working from home, however I have become my own boss, therefore I am able to be more flexible with my time. With this flexibility I volunteer more at the school or at sporting events. Now, the laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, transporting, doctor's appointments, home office duties, etc do not go away just because I volunteered at the school last week. You can just add these items to your "pile" and begin sorting out and prioritizing. Sometimes we take on too much and don't realize this until we find ourselves re-writing a "to do" list each day and labeling them A,B,C in order of importance (which I do). In the end I always say it's worth every waking moment.
I wonder if other work from home moms feel busier than ever and how each have coped in their own unique ways?
Being one of all three, (work outside the house, work from home, and full time mom) at some point in my life, I can honestly say that when I am in control of my own schedule, I pack more in than any boss ever did. It is in our DNA and when we ladies follow our bliss, (being with and providing for our families) it feels less like work than ever. When I am valued and nurtured by my family, I tend to "work" a lot better too ;-)
ReplyDeleteAs far as "handling" it, I constantly re-prioritize. Some days my little girl wants to be hugged all day long and that is way more important than any cleaning or phone call returning.
Re-prioritizing on a daily basis is "key"! You have to be flexible for your children. Thanks for your comment Amy!
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