I have announced to my nearest and dearest and primary bill-payer that I plan on never working full-time again. I mean, if all things work out for us - no illness or accident, no mass lay-offs, etc. 80% perhaps, 60% sounds better, full-time for a couple of months and then couple days/week for the next few months.
Call me unambitious or a slacker (having a house in France does feed this ideal lifestyle, I must admit) but it's my plan and I can only hope to be so fortunate.
That said, I DO plan on working and I AM the primary child-raiser at the moment. I am working too much at the moment. The house and household and friendships show it. My love spent much of his weekend doing laundry, but also playing street hockey or skating with the kids. That's obviously what I miss most - hanging out, playing, baking, cuddling with the children. I don't want to be sentimental, however; full-time child-rearing wasn't for me either.
Today I have my wish, sort of.
It actually started yesterday. Sophie was dropped off at a much-anticipated birthday party. I tried to buckle down to some work. I tried and tried and finally hit "the zone". Full concentration. Tapped out a sentence I liked and actually had the next sentence ready to go. I was on a roll.
The phone rang.
Yup, you guessed it. Sophie was sad and needed some comfort. Off I trotted (because asking Dad to do back-up meant big brother too and that would change the dynamic of the party).
Once I got home, I got the next working-mum-bruise. Carrie was sick and won't be in on Monday. Feel for her and am actually happier to have her getting better at home, rather than risking us all getting sick. Hmm, quick think and came up with new child-care plan for Monday. It involved Sophie returning to to the birthday girl's home to eat leftovers. Ingenious, no! And then I will knock off at 3, pick up Seb from the bus and then Sophie at her playdate, take them to the swim classes (which I have wanted to see for some weeks), dash home to whip up a quick/nutritious/tasty dinner, change into my cocktail dress and greet my tofu-earner at the door with a kiss and a martini - or something.
Flexibility, resilience, sense of humour and the big picture. If I could just work on getting into that productivity zone faster. Might help if I didn't mess around on the blog!
1 comment:
Balance...it's the trickiest part of the whole thing isn't it. It must feel especially impossible when you have to travel so much for work. Sounds like you're doing a pretty great job though -- hang in there! sarah
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