Working Mothers
I do. not. know. HOW. they do it!
I take my hat off to them. Juggling kids, housework and paid work must be a nightmare at times.
And where does the crazy notion come from that once the kids are at school, you’ll have more time on your hands????
So far this term I have not had 1 single week where I haven’t had at least one kid home sick. Some weeks, I’ve had as little as 1 day in the week to “myself”.
Well, I always thought it was stupid when the government decided to bring in the rule that certain benefits were to be cut off once kids reached school age as mother’s could go back to work. Pffff….
Alright, back to four foot nothing now (just stepped off my soapbox). That’s what one of my school friends used to call me. Reckoned I was 4-foot to the shoulders with nothing above. LOL. Couple that with “Lightening” and another nickname I was called at school - “airhead” and you’d think I’d develop a complex or something. ROFLOL.
Anyway, I’m rambling. I tend to do that when I’m excited.
Today is a ME day!!!!
I’m going out to lunch with a wonderful friend.
Then getting my hair done (my trip “do”).
Then we’re going out to tea for a friends birthday (shhh…it’s a surprise). Pretty sure they don’t read my blog so it’s all good.
Ooh, and I have to buy a couple of birthday presents today too. Shopping!!!!!
Lleyton is still home from school. He’s been sick all week with viral tonsillitis. Poor kid. His teacher even called last night to see if everything was alright because he’d been away for 2 days. Isn’t that sweet?
So, lucky for me Farmboy isn’t going to be working too far away today. He’ll be able to keep an eye on him so I can go flit about like a social butterfly. LOL.
Alright, enough rambling. Better go and practise the piano before my lesson. I’ve been procrastinating again….
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oh you’re still doing the piano. Lovely
You hadn’t mentioned it for a while.
Yes.
I don’t know why people think that stay at home mum’s have time to go back to work either.
And I have NO IDEA how working mother’s manage.
Enjoy your day!!
“trip “do” “? Please tell me that doesn’t involve a shaved head for ease of care.
Or a tight granny perm. *shudder*
I’m a working mother and I’ve got no idea how I do it!
I dont think all paid working mums do cope!
I certainly could not work fulltime although sometimes i think i would be more organised if I did!
I have just learnt to accept that we are not all wired the same and thats ok…!!
Sometimes having a job outside home actually helps me rise in the mornings and gives me some sense of routine!
However I am so thankful that i can juggle 2 part time jobs in between school hours, even though my day doesnt stop then and that i have a supportive hubby who helps me no end!
working mums …we are all hard working mums
hope you enjoyed yourself and hope we see a pic of the new do
I don’t know how we do it either but a supportive hubby helps in my case = only two days a week
I don’t have kids and I can’t cope with work and house work. My husband helps cook or we would be getting take out every day instead of only weekends. My house isn’t perfect and I have just had to learn to accept it. I don’t know how moms handle kids and everything.
Congratulations on getting a ME day! I would love to have one of those every now and then. I am actually getting to go out with a girlfriend later this month and leave our husbands and her kids home. I can’t wait to see the new do, I just went about 3 inches shorter for the summer.
Ahh - I have the “best” of both worlds - working at home - which means you still have to fit in your paid stuff around whining sick children when the moment allows - I cannot understand how either of the other camp do it!!
Actually, I think all mothers are working mothers - its just who pays and how much that marks the line.
I have no idea how working Mums do it! Hats off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not looking forward to my benefits being cut off once all the kids are in school - there aren’t a lot of jobs where I live, so there is low likelihood of me getting any job in school hours without paying extortionate child care costs. And older kids cost more to run. Then I’d miss out on volunteering with the school.
In fact, I’d work now but childcare for 3 kids would mean I’d be running negative!
Hope you enjoyed your ‘me’ day!!!!!!!!!
Hi Lightening
But you are a working mum…putting days in on the tractor. I’ve really enjoyed reading about that. I work in paid work for 25 hours a week. Enough for some meaningful work but also family and ‘me’ time (Fridays, 6 hours while the kids are at school - it flies by!) I think working is a bit like those fuzzy first days/weeks of having a newborn..somehow you just muddle through. Some days/weeks are much better or worse than others! However I’m happy with the balance in my life now but everyone’s different.
I’ve really liked reading your blog over the last six months and I’ve just started my own…flowergirl73 on blogspot. Is it okay if I put you on my ‘blogroll’? Not sure about the etiquette of these things.
Cheers bron
I have no idea how I do it either.
Some weeks are bad, some are really really bad….
I think working makes me more organised. I just can’t afford to put stuff off. I do set tasks on set days and spend a lot of time during the week folding laundry in front of the tv.
I’m lucky though, I have a very capable husband who is also very helpful. Couldn’t do it without his support.
Thanks for lunch! We should do that more often!
I manage ‘everything’ better when I have an out of the house paid job. No more than two days a week mind you. My one day minus the boys (Miss V will go soon too I think) seems to go so fast I envision that will be the same when they are all at school too. Although that is a while off here.
I think you just have to and so you do. Having said that I wish I could motivcate myself a bit better, and did a bit more of the SAH part of SAHM. We are out everyday.
B - yep, still doing the piano. It’s been very helpful for retraining my brain. Not sure how well I’m actually progressing in being able to PLAY though. LOL.
River - darn it! Should have thought of the “shaved head” idea earlier. LOL.
Tess - and you don’t always cut yourself enough slack for how much you have on your plate either!!!! You oughta be congratulated for all you do.
Lynette - how do you go when the kids get sick? Or don’t yours get sick much? A supportive hubby would be essential I imagine.
Trish - we definitely ARE!!!! I just hate the notion that once kids are all at school, mums are suddenly free to go back to work. It doesn’t always work like that (well, so far, in my experience).
Lynne - I know before we had kids and I was working, I found it quite difficult to keep the house organised. Thankfully I had 2 weeks off every 10 and used that as a catch up. I hope you have a lovely day out with your friend.
Jeanie - that’s what I’m working on too. When my kids were little I did some party plan stuff for a while and if I didn’t have a babysitter I could take them with me (although not if they were sick). I’m just glad I haven’t jumped into paid work outside the home too quickly. The results so far would have been disastrous.
Katy - I just don’t agree with forcing mums to go back to work simply because their kids are at school. And the whole “who will volunteer” is a big issue too isn’t it? Childcare is a hard one - I know I did the calculations one time (when we were trying to work out how to pay for this house) and I too would have been going backwards.
Bron - yeah, I guess that’s why I’m really thinking about it. Even with the flexibility of tractor work, it hasn’t been easy juggling sick kids and school stuff. I feel very lucky that I have such a flexible option open to me (although DH’s 1 complaint during seeding was that I was constantly having to go into town right when he needed me most lol). As for linking, I’m more than happy for you to link to me (assuming you’re not a p0rn site lol). I’ll try and check out your blog soon.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
Sharon - working as a way of conquering procrastination? Now there’s a thought. LOL. Lunch was awesome. Makes me feel like I’ve actually got a friend.
Amy - Yeah, there’s almost no such thing as a SAHM these days is there? We all seem to flit about constantly. I think there’s a valid point in getting a break from the kids too. I wish now that I’d done that a bit when the kids were little. I think it would have improved the time I did have with them. It can be hard when it’s so constant day in and day out.
You ask how i cope when the kids are sick.. well … that is always a hard one….
and one i hate to deal with…. but i never like to send a sick kid off to school.
Usually my hubby and i have to have a plan decided the night before if we know the kids are borderline sick (LOL)…. sometimes if Anth has no major planned meetings etc he decides to take a family responsibility day which he gets paid for (so many a year)…. or usually i take the day off and just dont get paid……. or in one of my jobs i can usually make up the hours later that week or perhaps work extra time the next week… but that depends on a generous boss….
Looking back on life before work outside the home, it does surprise me though how often i used to give my kids a day off just for feeling off or tired. Sometimes now i can be a bit harsh and hard, but perhaps thats also teaching them to struggle on despite little hardships..
With one son now travelling 1.5 hours each way to high school on a bus its even harder because we are assessing levels of sickness at 6.30 am!!! One day he called me at 7.10am as he had felt quite ill on the bus (also due to yoghurt breakky) and asked the driver to let him off at a local shop… so off i went to get him, only to later find he was just very tired and needed time out of the long days!
I would love to know how any mums decide sickness degrees with kids!Its hard enough with myself let alone kids!
Lynette