Finding Balance

February 24, 2012

When you’re a working mom, you live with Mommy Guilt.

When you’re a single working mom, you multiply that by 7000.

Being a single mom means all the chores I used to with a partner – laundry, bathtime, grocery shopping, yard work, taking out the trash, dishes – I now do on my own. Add in a full time job and it’s no wonder that when my ex picks them up for the weekend, I collapse in a pile of exhaustion with a list of chores longer than my arm. I use my two days “off” to work through my list and try to schedule at least one activity for myself – even if it’s only as exciting as reading a book.

I never really wanted to be a working mom. Props to the people who want to do it, but I wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom. Which makes working that much more difficult.

I’m at work when I’d rather be baking cookies.

Fine, I probably wouldn’t actually bake cookies, considering most the time I burn them, but the thought is there.

When I’m at home, I’m busy catching up from being gone.

I read all sorts of articles and advice columns about finding balance and being “in the moment”. That’s all fine and dandy, but let’s be honest. There’s really only one solution that I can figure out:

Make the day 32 hours.

Since all my letters to Congress regarding this suggestion seem to go unanswered, I was wondering you had any advice to achieve this balance.

Any ideas?

Mandy Dawson is the creator of In Mandyland, an almost daily blog recording her adventures in juggling a full-time job, two active children, four arguing hens, a fluffy bunny, and one ex-husband. A self-diagnosed gardening and crafting addict, she often finds herself gluing together clay pots and trying to discover the cure for brown thumb. When she’s not writing, she can be found burning dinners while she stares off into space with a story idea. She was a regular contributor for Makes Fun of Stuff, Aiming Low, and Six Kitchens, and has been featured on BlogHer and Mamapedia. She is an Assistant Editor for Write on Edge and has had her fiction featured in three anthologies currently available on Amazon.