work/life balance?
Photo credit: Amanda Rohde
I have been back in school for six months and it has not been without some struggle on the home front. Work/life balance is more like work, work, work, maybe someday I’ll have a life.
My family handles more of their lives without me or at most with me in my office reminding everyone to do their homework and figure out something for dinner. I am more absent from their lives with night classes and group meetings on the weekends. Where once I could attend most of their games and cheer for my boys, this year I have been lucky to make it to one or two games a season.
They have adjusted and do more around the house. Our family schedule is planned by the hour whereas in the past I could manage it alone. Now, my husband and I negotiate attendance at activities, driving, parent/teacher conferences and the endless doctor and orthodontist appointments. We rely on a babysitter to help with daily logistics. More equitable, yes, but more difficult as well.
A recent post on the Wall Street Journal’s online blog, The Juggle, discusses the pressures placed on families when a parent goes back to school. The sacrifices, both financial and personal, the occasional chaos or missed school event are difficult but worth it.
My family has a happier (and hopefully smarter and soon-to-be-employed) mom and I have a more responsible and independent family. We all are more respectful of each other’s time and commitments and have lots more to share when we finally get to sit down to dinner, together, even if dinner is frozen pizza or take-out, yet again.
“My family has a happier mom and I have a more responsible and independent family. We all are more respectful of each other’s time and commitments and have lots more to share.”
I am happy for you, Eileen. Although the endless “work, work, work” pattern sucks, I felt proud of you when you mentioned the above conclusion.
Keep on the great job!