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Today I want to talk about family, and how I make time for my family. It's so difficult for a working mom to balance time with her kids, husband, and extended family! I think it's a battle that all working moms have within themselves and struggle with.
I'm so blessed that for 5 years i've worked in the public school setting. As hard as it can be, i'm so thankful for the hours of my job. My kids are not the first to arrive at their daycare and they are not the last to leave. That is so important to me! I drop the girls off around 7:45, and by 4:00 (or earlier) I've picked the girls up from school.
I also have a teacher's schedule so I'm blessed to have fall break, Thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break, and summers off! I don't have to take off work just to be home when the kids are out of school.
I'm currently struggling with where I'm going to work after Adalyn arrives. Part of me would love to go part time (3-4 days a week) and the other part tells me to stay in the schools so I can have these holidays off. To be honest, I am not 100% sure where i'll be working in September, but the fact that I currently have holidays and summers off is a huge contributing factor to my decision.
I know that not all of us go into professions that belong in the public school setting, and believe me, I don't work in the schools for the money. I could make 15-20,000 more a year if I worked in a different setting. So, if you're not blessed enough to work in the schools how do you make time to spend with your kids and still juggle all of the responsibilities as a mom? Hopefully, you'll get some good tips here.
As I mentioned before, I can have my kids picked up no later than 4:00, and we are home within 15 minutes. There are many, many days where we are walking in the door at 4:00. That gives us an entire hour to spend together before I have to cook dinner.
In that hour, we usually play together in the playroom or downstairs. We might catch up on Princess Sofia episodes, or we may go for ice cream. There are times where I let the girls play together in the playroom where I work on sewing projects. The point is- we are together.
When it's time to cook dinner, MC is always hanging out in the kitchen with me. She loves to be in the kitchen! I'll also encourage G to help where she is able, or I'll have them sitting at the bar coloring. Our kitchen and living room connect, so if they're in the living room, I feel like i'm with them when i'm in the kitchen.
After dinner comes baths. DJ or I give them a bath and we'll hang out in the bathroom while the girls are in the tub. We try to make bath time fun by letting the girls play with tub crayons or having bubbles or just splashing around with them. DJ is so good about this- he gets a little crab wash cloth and pretends its a puppet. The girls get a kick out of it!
After bath is bedtime. I try to read to the girls every single night. Currently, G and I are reading Stuart Little, our first chapter book, and we read one chapter each night. We also say prayers every night.
While we are in the car, I try to keep the radio off. I talk to the girls about their day, or ask them questions about their friends, and their own thoughts and feelings. I also try to stay off the phone, unless I haven't talked to my own mom that day. Then, i'll call her on our way home from school.
Taking G to gymnastics once a week, gives me an hour of time with Meggie, as does G's soccer. DJ usually takes her and then Megan and I can stay home together.
Once a month, I try to take Gretchen on a "date". In April, we went to see Angelina Ballerina, in May, we went to the bookstore to visit the illustrator of Fancy Nancy and i've taken her out for ice cream. This gives us bonding time without having another child present. I want to continue our "date nights" once Adalyn arrives and school starts again. She's at such an impresionable age, that I feel these are so important to us!
On the weekends, I typically spend the mornings cleaning the house, but Saturday afternoons are reserved for family time. Sundays are pretty much the same way. We go to church in the morning, then when we get home MC naps, and we are home.
I'm not always playing with my girls, but I am with my girls. I've always heard that quality not quantity is important, so we do try to have those special quality moments together. I also want to make memories with my girls, so getting out of the house to go to the zoo, park, or aquarium are special moments for us!
I think most importantly as mom's, we need to accept what we can't change, and just live in the moments that are there. Appreciate the time that you're with your kids and make memories with them.
How do you as a working mom fit in quality time with your kids? What are some of your favorite activities?
Written by Unknown
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