The Working Mom Blueprint: Winning at Parenting without Losing Yourself

When I was a little kid, I loved summer. When I think back on those lazy days of day camp, I remember playing soccer in the park for hours, swimming in the local pool, overnight camping in the woods — it was all so easy. Now that I’m a mom with my own elementary-school kid, though, scheduling summer camps seems ANYTHING but easy. Last year, I filled a full notebook page with options, dates, and costs for swim lessons, week-long adventure camps, and after-care experiences. Charting all this took me four hours. By the end of it, my heart was beating a little faster, and my blood pressure was rising. I showed the final product to my daughter who simply laughed out loud. “Mommy,” she said, “I don’t even want to do all of that. I want to enjoy my summer.” That’s when it all came together. (And way more naturally than the Tetris-like configuration I’d crafted as I fit work, vacation, and extracurricular schedules into eight-hour blocks of time.) I realized this was an exercise in “making it work” that, in the end, didn’t work for anyone, especially not my daughters. We crossed off 30 percent of the scheduled activities right then and there, opting for less work for me and more enjoyment for everyone. We all have contaminators: obligations and schedule-fillers that clutter up our lives. Your contaminators are unique to you. It might be joining a parent-teacher organization (though if that’s your jam, more power to you, Mama). It might be heading up...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: career family happiness productivity tips success motherhood pickthebrain self improvement working mom Source Type: blogs