I believe in working hard to give yourself the best life possible. I would not be happy in the 1950's lifestyle where the wife is at home while the husband brings home the bacon. I need to have my own life outside the home. Dont get me wrong I love being a mother, but I cant lose myself either in the process.
I want to be the best mother and the best ME I can be, which means I have to balance to make sure one does not over power the other. It is not always easy but in the end it truly makes life so much easier. I see the difference when I follow through and not just go with the flow.
One thing I have always struggled with in my life is being a workaholic. If I love my job, you can bet I will be giving it 110 percent. It started when I was 16 working in a nursing home and never stopped from there. But the day I became a mom that whole guilt things mother feel for leaving their infant at home, yep I felt that .
I have learned to make sure that sometimes you just have to log off and puthat job or side hustle behind you for a little awhile. If you do not that burned out feeling comes and everything will start feeling out of whack in your life. That is one of the great things about my side hustle vs my full time job, I make my own schedule and can easily just not even give it a second thought. Right now I have a calendar on my fridge that outlines when I will be on the road and when I will be at home doing the family thing.
I try to stick to routine to make sure everything flows the same way. When you get into a good routine your life will show it. So following the same times and same routine it becomes second nature. I always try to do the same work schedule so I can mentally prepare myself and my daughter also is used to the schedule.
Priorities are so important. You need to know what you is most important to you. I work because of course life comes with bills and expenses. I want to know I do not have to worry about bills. There is nothing worse than being strapped for cash and the worst possible time. I sent myself a weekly goal I need to hit. It also gives me a chance to work hard because if I hit that goal early enough I get to take the weekend or possibly long weekend off.
Another priority is making sure my daughter is exceling in school and not being neglected. I want to be there for every little milestone she will reach in life. So that will always come ahead of any thing else I have going on at that moment.
Last but not last I make sure I also make time to just be me. I want to make sure I do not lose touch with extended family and friends.My family is pretty close and we spend almost everyday together. I cherish that because one day that will not be the case. Sadly my best friends do not live in the same state so I only get to talk to them through text and Facebook but I make sure to always being checking in on them.
How do you balance your life?
We are from different eras. I am 80 and grew up in the 50s. My mother stayed home until my sister was in school, and then got a job. I had a job I loved and quit when our daughter was born and stayed at home for many years, birthing more babies! When all my kids were in school, I got a part time job as typist and worked at that job for many years. I never had a "career." I just had "jobs", which meant that when I finally stopped working, I had no retirement income.
ReplyDeleteI never tried to balance everything. I was blessed to be in a situation where I could be a SAHM without worrying about money. My husband has a good job that provides more than enough. But I know that if I was in a place where I needed to bring in more money while my children were little, I would have busted my butt to make sure they were provided for. But I never tried to do both so that I could focus on one thing. That being said, BOTH roads are hard on the mom in one way or another, so rather than give in to that Mommy-Guilt, have confidence that you made the best choice for you and your daughter. It's a very radical way of dealing with the guilt--to refuse it entirely. :)
ReplyDeleteI have had it both ways. With my first born I did the SAHM thing. It was all about him. I cant do that with my daughter because my hubby is on disability. You are right both ways are great and hard. As a mother we tend to feel guilty because we want to give your babies the best possible childhood and life.
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