My Schedule

Way back when, I never dreamed of either being married or having children. I just didn't think it was for me. By the time we had Jaden living with us and we had Asher, I know both were for me. I love having children and being witness to and parent in their wonderment. I also love my work and having an adult space in which to create and to be a part of my community.

I have been so fortunate to find a good balance between work and kids. I work about 35 hours for a local non-profit but spend only three days in the office, usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This week, due to Asher being sick last week, I also worked Tuesday. So yesterday, I woke up to a home that was the victim to my three days of being at work - a dishwasher full of clean dishes, a sink and countertop full of dirty dishes, little food in the refrigerator, no coffee, dust bunnies the size of baseballs, five loads of laundry (make that six after Harper's nap time maneuvers in which she removed her diaper and managed to poop mostly on the floor while staying in her crib), a stack of overdue library books, a toilet that was so dirty I didn't even want to pee in it, children who had not been washed in the last four days, and Asher's "bigger blankie" (quilt) that just may have not made it into the wash after a cat poop incident two days before. It was a bad scene. I spent most of the day making up for lost time and not nearly enough time with my kids. We were no longer at risk of having our kids taken away by social services for health violations, but I was sad to have spent so much time cleaning.

Weeks when I do work three days in a row or four days in a week or spend an extra day at home with sick kids, I am so thankful (and feel so spoiled) by the end of the week for my schedule and the time I get to spend with my kids, not cleaning, and in the office, satisfying my need to do things. My hats are off to all the moms who do work inside or outside the home full time (although, I have to say, as a mom, there's no way to be part time).