Having it all

A friend forwarded this article to me. Her timing couldn't have been more perfect as I've been thinking a lot about how to juggle my career and family. With an hour commute to my job and often not getting home until 6:30 or 7:00, I wonder how I'll be able to adjust my schedule to pick up the baby on time. I wonder how children really know that you are their Mom when they spend all day with someone else. On the other hand, I can't imagine not working or providing for our family. I can't imagine giving up something that helps me establish purpose and independence. I also want to set an example for my child of hard work and demonstrate that obtaining an education can lead to success. In other words, it's still over 6 months before we will meet our baby and over 9 months until I'll return to work from maternity leave but I've still found time to worry about this issue.

I differ from the author, as I've never had a time line to end my career (well not one that comes before retirement at 55+), rather I've had a time line by which I wanted to achieve certain accomplishments. I also didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a Mom; it wasn't until more recently that this became something I desired. Still, I find this article very useful.

The Mom in the article faced a very difficult challenge and unfortunately had to deal with her baby being injured. The article doesn't mention the outcome or how the little girl's health is now. I guess I'll have to buy the book to find out. The author urges others to take time breathe, to narrow their focus and plan for the future in order to help find balance between family and career. This is something something I certainly need to work on and I don't even have a child yet. I find this excerpt from article especially important as it relates to achieving work life balance:

"Looking back, I realize my biggest failures always seemed to find me when I was trying to do too much too soon. When I wasn’t ready to accept that I needed to choose one aspect of my life over another — or risk crashing and losing everything. Your job can be a big part of who you are, but it shouldn’t be the whole package. Your family and relationships should be central, but they needn’t be front and center at all times."

I'm looking forward to reading this entire book and hope that some other expecting Mom's will find the article beneficial.