Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is a hot topic. Something working moms (and sometimes dads) talk about often. Everyone wants it and everyone seems to struggle with it from time to time. It's not a harder or easier struggle than those of stay-at-home moms; it's just a different one.

I'm very fortunate that I have the type of job that allows me to usually lean toward the life side of that balance. Days off are easy to come by and nothing is more important than a sick kid. Of course I have to consider important meetings and tasks when I schedule my days off or cover my bases before I bolt out the door to pick E up from daycare with a fever, but compared to most jobs, I think I have it pretty good.

Sometimes, though, that balance swings to the other side. Things get crazy at work and everything hits at once. And when that happens, it's really hard on me. I don't deal well with it. I get easily frustrated and crabby. The next couple weeks are one of those times. I've gotten several opportunities that are good for career growth, but for some reason they all happened at the same time. This means long hours and travel.

I'm not looking forward to the stress but I'm also excited that I'll get to finish the two weeks up with a trip to my hometown to visit with my sister who's returning from Afghanistan. We've missed her so much and she hasn't seen E since he was 11 months old and not even walking yet.

So, how do I find work-life balance? Well, sometimes it's life and sometimes it's work. And when it's work, I just ride it through and take a few days off when it's all over to hug on my loveys. Luckily, for me, it all works out in the end.