How I Do It

Recently I posted complaining about blog posts that aim to tell us all as parents how wrong we are doing things. Helpful? Notsomuch.

I am going to try and go against the grain - post a series of blog posts about how I do things.

Perfect? Far from it. And recently I posted about not really reading blogs anymore and that was sort of true. I really do enjoy reading posts from other moms on how they make it through the day, their work, school, food, etc. There is even a local magazine that features a mom each month and I look forward to picking it up so that I can read the recurring article about "How She Does It". Sometimes I even know them. So I guess it is my turn. You might find a nugget, you might not. You might walk away thinking I so do NOT have it together - and you would be right. But at least it is honest.

So before I embark on this I thought I would give you a little background. Most of you who read my blog know me. You know that I work, you know I have two kids, you know I am not terribly worried about being private or hiding things. You know that you will walk into my house and what you see is what you get. I don't hide behind a facade of perfection.

But to put us all on the same page, here is where I am starting from:

Challenges:

• My husband works four, 10 hour days, one hour from the house. That means he walks out of the house at 5:30am and returns right on the dot at 5:30pm. Friday is his day off.
• Kids - two of them. Cuteness abounds, but don't let them fool you, they are rascals and seem to have inherited not only my hair color, but my klutziness.
• Animals - two cats, two dogs. Because we are nuts. Enough said.
• Food - my kids are picky as hell. One is starting to come around. The other takes stubborn to a new level.
• Work - I work 40 hours a week. I am very, very lucky to have an employer who allows a flexible schedule whereby I can telecommute as needed. I have more guilt in my own head about this though. Somedays I feel like I am cheating, but then I sit down and count out the hours and realize that maybe I should have charged more than I do.
• Travel - with my (flexible) work comes the requirement that I do occasionally have to travel. It is June and by the end of July I will have travelled 5 or 6 times this calendar year.
• New job responsibilities - which means a new career ladder to negotiate. I am officially management now.
• Job politics - you get it, I don't need to elaborate.
• Lack of family nearby - luckily I have a few friends I can rely on, but living in a region without family support with two working parents can be incredibly difficult, which makes #5 above very handy.
• Work-Life balance - I tend towards being a workaholic. I have trouble putting things down, picking up my keys and leaving for the day. I thrive on work success. Now to balance it and let things out of my tight fist...
• High expectations - I have them. I hold myself up to high expectations, others for the most part not as high as I hold myself.

So there it is - where I am coming from.

I won't tackle each one of these necessarily. Some will be combined. But we will see where this goes...