How Working Works for My Family, Part 1

6:55 am in red letters on the stove clock.

  • “Kids, let’s go. If we don’t hurry up, we will be late.”

Now I see 7:00 am … keep calm but we gotta get moving.

  • “Bennett, you have enough toys for the 10 min car ride to school. You don’t NEED a bad guy. Buzz, Ninja Turtles, and Jake can all be friends in the car. How about we play nice and don’t bring a bad guy? Oh whatever, just get in the car.”
  • “Avery, I understand you don’t like your shoes. You tell me every morning, but those are part of your uniform. The car is open, go get in your seat and buckle up!!”

workmom7

OK, kids out the door, lights off, coffee in hand, alarm on. 7:05am showing on the car clock and we are good. Deep breath and off we go!

Choatic, multi-tasking and demanding are three words that I would use to describe my life. You see, I have two very full time jobs. I am a mom to two kids (5 ½ and 3 ½ years old) and a full time Pediatric Speech Pathologist. In both of my jobs, I truly have to be PRESENT. “Going through the motions” is not an option.


My day in a nutshell:

workmom6MORNING: Alarm goes off at 6am, wake up kids shortly after that so they can eat a quick breakfast and get dressed, out the door (as close to 7am as possible), bring two kids to two different schools, then head to work myself.

WORK: My first patient starts at 8:00am and last one ends at 4:15pm or 5:00pm depending on day.  Each session lasts 45 mins with no scheduled break between patients, except a 45 min lunch. On the occasion I see the blinking light on my phone telling me someone has cancelled; it’s time to catch up on paperwork, write reports, and return phone calls to parents and doctors. So now it’s 4:30-5:15pm and work is over, luckily my husband picks up the kids most days, so off to the gym I go for 30-45 mins. I don’t go as much as I would like, but something is better than nothing.

EVENING: My husband does the cooking in our house (and it’s REALLY good); so when I get home, dinner is usually already on the table. Don’t hate me, but he also cleans up. After dinner, it’s bath time and a little TV time before bed. At 7:30pm, the TV is off, kids are brushing teeth and picking out their night time story. Luckily, they both go to bed pretty well so the house is typically quiet by 8:00pm. However, my day is not over yet. My husband and I frequently sit outside after the kids go to bed, have a glass of wine and just talk for a while with no interruptions. Once we think the mosquitoes have eaten enough of our blood, we both do whatever needs to be done before the next day. I take a shower and make sure everything is ready for the chaos that is sure to greet us in the morning. We usually watch one TV show that is saved on our DVR, because who in the world knows what day shows are actually aired anymore, then it’s off to bed. Good Night Red Stick.


workmom1Of course, mother’s guilt comes into play often when you are a working mom. Do I give enough to my kids? To my marriage? To my career? To myself? The easy answer is NO to all of these questions, but I was born to work in some sort of fashion. I try to give 100% to everything and again here’s a math problem… no one can give  400% on a daily basis. I give what I can and pray for the best in each situation. I crave intellectual stimulation, peer relationships, a sense of giving back and overall making this world a better place for my kids and yours. I feel that I do this by the career that I have chosen.

Everyone obtains a sense of value differently and I feel that I have found mine. That being said, I still and will always wonder if my kids would act, behave or become different people if I were a SAHM or at least worked a little less. But this is the life that I believe I was born and raised to undertake. I guess it goes back to “the grass is always (might be) greener on the other side”.

Read Part 2, where I share my tips and reasons on how working full-time works for me.

How do you feel you are living the life you were born to live?

Allison
Allison is a New Orleans native and moved to Baton Rouge in 2005. She and her high school sweetheart married in 2006 and have two amazing kids, Avery and Bennett. She works full-time as a pediatric Speech Pathologist and feels that these kids are her second family. She believes that parenting truly is the hardest job in world. She is learning everyday how to balance marriage, kids, work and personal time. She enjoys tailgating for LSU events, soaking in New Orleans culture and being outside with friends and family as much as possible. Allison has a passion for long and usually loud talks with friends over good food and wine, loves photography and escaping into a great book.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for posting this. I joined this site before it got off and running. Then when the first event was set during my business day..I began to think it was a mistake. A blog by all the stay at home Moms listing all the terrific things they get to take their kids to during the day. It all sounds like rainbows and kittens to me, lol. My husband and I are adopting Ava and it has turned our lives upside down in a whirlwind of change. We love her and we are doing the best we can but we both work very long hours. Thanks to our extended family..its all working out. I make special effort on the weekends to get her out and about to local events and activities. I look forward to your entries and seeing all you have to offer this blog. Thank you again!

    Tina

  2. Thanks for following Tina! Congrats on the adoption of your daughter, Ava.

    We will definitely having events that working families can attend. Come out to the Mall this Friday 6 to 8PM for Christmas on the Blvd. and again at the Mall on Saturday, December 7th from noon to 3PM for Reindeer Games. I will be out there on Dec 7 and would love to meet you!!

    Like us on Facebook to hear about events as soon as they are finalized.

  3. This is a lovely post Allison!! Thanks for sharing your day with us! “You can’t give 400% every day” rings true for so many moms! Going to read part 2 now!

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