14 May 2008

Dichotomy

I've been feeling so torn lately, and the word that came to mind was dichotomy. I finally went and looked up an actual definition: division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.

It fits to a tee. It's like having a baby not only created a whole 'nother being, but even split who I've always been into two. The catch? The 'two' are one that I love, and one that is necessary. This makes it very hard to manage, as I certainly can't turn my back on either part, but they're hard to embrace at the same time.

I'm an employee (for 30 hours per week), and a stay-at-home-mom. Unfortunately, my work-from-home job doesn't pay as well as it would need to for me to be actually financially comfortable. At the same time, it keeps me from going out and doing stuff with my baby.

I'd love to go to playgroups, and Gymboree, and music classes, and swim classes, and..and..and. But I take comfort in the fact that I do this so I can be the one with my daughter a majority of the time (okay, nearly all the time), while still bringing in just enough money to feel like I'm pulling my own weight.

Hopefully down the road our financial picture will brighten a bit and I can do my most important jobs - mom to Maggie and wife to hubby - ALL the time, and then maybe be able to feel more successful with both of those jobs.

What's your best time-balancing tip? Especially if you've tried to work and be mom at exactly the same time.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have a schedule for everything (including time with your husband). It makes it easier to see where your time is going and in essence saves you time as well!

siteseer said...

I've had a couple of things that worked.
1. Do a job then reward myself with 10 minutes. (only 10 minutes) Amazing how you just speed through things.
2. I didn't have internet back then, but I would stay away from tv and the phone. They are hugh time consumers.

Anonymous said...

I have no time-crunch tips... I find it hard to fit in a shower or lunch on a daily basis.
You are doing a great job though.

Jess said...

I wish I could share a time balancing tip but, as you can tell, I barely even have time to comment on/read friends' blogs! Does "pretend like you don't need sleep" count as a tip?