One of the struggles as a working mom is the balance between the need and desire to work, and the need to deal with all of the stuff going on at home. At times, that can get to be overwhelming, as I have to deal with all of the demands being placed on me, and my time. On the one hand, I’m trying to be professional for my clients, employees, and customers. On the other hand, I have constant chaos going on in the background.
At this exact moment, I have two cats and a rabbit running around the dining room, playing chase, and a tweenager running around cleaning animal cages. Of course, I have to make sure that she actually CLEANS the cages, and doesn’t get lost in the bathroom for the next hour, while she does her hair or some other emergency that comes up.
Which is all to say- it is hard. It can be incredibly difficult to balance the demands and needs of every constituent. I think that it is even harder when you have to work for an employer with no flexibility. I really feel for working moms who do not have the kind of flexibility that I have, and that I try to give to my employees. Being a working mom is hard enough, without ripping yourself apart at the seams.
I think that we need to recognize that women who have kids are frequently very dedicated, wonderful employees who can give so much to the company, if you will just give them the opportunity to do so. They can, in fact, offer a lot of great leadership skills, if you will just give them a bit of space to show those skills.
My life careens back and forth between the insanity of having four kids, three cats, a rabbit, chinchilla, three girl scout troops, a cub scout tiger den, and a couple of companies that I own. it just means that I get to use every bit of all of the skills that I have every minute of every day. It is- a dichotomy- that is never ending. It can be mind-bending and insanity inducing at times, but it’s my life. I am certainly a person of many facets, and not all of them play nicely together at times.
What about you? Do you feel like you’re being pulled apart at times?