Working Mom

It usually never fails that when I am given a specific topic to speak on like balancing work and family that in the midst of preparing for the talk my life becomes total chaos. My friends would tell you I am pretty organized and usually have a plan, but there are times....like last week when the weather was freezing cold, snow was predicted and predictability went out the window...that the best laid plans didn't mean diddly.

There have been times in my life when that would have made me absolutely crazy, but I think the years have mellowed me a bit. (There might be some people that would argue with that statement.) Or, maybe I was just too tired to fuss. Really, I do think one thing I have learned over time is that life is too short to get all rung out over things you can't do anything about or that really don't matter in the long run. My theme has become adapt and adjust. Don't tell me what we can't do, lets figure out what we can do with what we have.

That has freed me up to focus on the things I consider most important in my life.

For example, I love spending time with my family. I also enjoy a clean house. Instead of feeling like things have to be spotless before I can relax, I am willing to go for tidy and clean for the most part. I admit there are times when I look at a closet that needs to be cleaned out or a stack of photographs that I have been wanting to put in a scrapbook and I feel this sense of frustration, but I remind myself that when our daughter is off at college and my husband is off playing golf or something there will be time to clean out the closets and put together a scrapbook.

I have this sense that we women put WAY too much pressure on ourselves to do WAY too much and in the end when mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy, which makes home a pretty miserable place to be for everybody.

What are your secrets for balancing work and family?