Balancing Everything...
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| Mon, 01-30-2006 - 12:12am |
Balancing everything from work, to school, to clinicals, to taking care of Leah is really stressful at times. Leah just came home from spending 3 nights with her dad. My mom had to pick her up b/c I was at work. My mom told me that she just cried and asked where I was when she picked her up.
I didn't get off of work until almost 10, picked up Leah, who was asleep, and then had to head to the grocery store. By the time I left my mom's house Leah was awake and happy to see me. But I feel so guilty having to be gone from her so much. Tomorrow I have to do clinicals all morning/afternoon and then go to class by 6.
I know that I'm doing all of this for her (the school thing), but it hurts having to be away from her so much. Pretty soon all the clinicals will be over and done with and everything will slow down. Until then though, I guess I'm just going to have to buck up and buckle down and take everything in stride.
My work schedule isn't so bad this week, so at least I'll get to spend most of my time with her. Sometimes I just wonder how I'm going to get everything done.
How do you all do everything - balancing work and kids. Do any of you feel guilty about being gone so long at times? I feel like I'm not being the mother that I should be, but all of the things that I'm doing will eventually pay off. I just hope that she understands.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Kait

Kait,
You're doing a great job so far.
I think we are all in the same boat - the work is never done - ever. You just have to do what is most important right now and let the other stuff be.
I agree with Alison that it is WHAT you do that matters - not how much time is spent together.
Don't feel bad -you are doing all of the right things and you love your DD a lot - and she is in good hands with all of the people who love her.
Some days I am in good balance and the others are just impossible - out of control. I have learned to say no to most things. For example, there is this class party this week for my son - he is not keen on going so I said okay - we won't do it.
Something that has always worked is to try to make a mundane daily chore fun for me and DS. We get up and clean the pool together before he goes to school. We have fun shopping. And we try to eat at least one meal a day together.
I know the feeling, I'm working at a salon 3 days out of the week, which isn't bad, and I attend school 2 nights out of the week, I try to spend as much time as possible with my son, but it's hard...the good thing about my schedule is that fridays and saturdays i'm off so when my son doesn't go with his dad I spend all day saturday doing stuff that he likes, i'll take him to the park, out for pizza, rent movies, etc...He's only 2 but already I can see that he needs time with me because he cries when I leave if he has been with his dad for a whole weekend.
I felt and still feel very guilty for my schedule and for not being able to be with him all of the time. I will be attending the University of Houston in August and I am considering quitting my job, I live with my parents, but I'm not getting any child support, so I may just have to look for another job....It's hard, sometimes I don't know how all of us do it....I guess we just have to.