Working Moms

The hardest part of my day is the drive home, after picking the kids up from the sitter's house. Often, I arrive and they are in the middle of something totally fun, and they whine about being interrupted. Then, once we get in the car, they often turn on each other, competing for my attention, trying to tell me stories (even if it's recounting an episode of Sponge Bob, word for word) and talking over one another. They are tired and hungry and pretty much let loose, knowing that mom can take it. Often though, mom can't take it, esp when they hit each other while I'm driving on the freeway!

When I'm thinking, I remember to bring a snack with me and hand it to them as soon as they are buckled up. Then, I head to the nearest grocery or target and stop to pick something up (there's ALWAYS something that I forgot). My little one jabbers away, while hanging on the side of the cart, like "Indiana Jones" and my older one can walk beside me, helping me get items and telling me EVERYTHING that's on his mind! I've found that this action oriented time to reconnect is essential for my kids - both boys. This may seem an odd way to end a long day and start a long evening, but it works for us, and the thirty minutes spent this way, is well worth it. A couple of times a week, we even stop and eat out, so tat they are full and content when we get home and then we sit and do homework together. My husband gets home before us, so those nights, he fends for himself with a stir fry.

Some nights go so well, it's like a Normal Rockwell painting. Other nights, not so well. But, we keep trying to hit that balance!

Definitely the working mom at home is just as complicated
I wish I could just slow down and smell the roses more. For example, taking more walks in the park with my husband and son.
I stay home with my 17 month old and watch 4 other children.
Indeed, once the day is over around 5:30-6, the last thing I want to do is go prepare a nice healthy dinner, or go for a walk. Probably the most thing I stress over is cleaning. This takes away from my family, but I seem to think that I can't relax until all the chores are done.

One Happy Mom in Arizona.

Honestly, this is the biggest challenge I have as a mom. My husband works long hours and I own a business out of the home. Time is limited for both of us. On top of it, our kids have always had something to do whether it be Tae Kwon Do, soccer, or Little League.

I am adamant that the family eat together as often as possible. But if that were limited to meals at home, it would only happen after 9 p.m. So we do eat out A LOT and it presents new challenges: how to make it affordable, and how to eat healthy.

El Pollo Loco is a great choice. I can feed my family of four for about $10.00. We get a combination meal of grilled chicken, black beans, rice and tortillas. The chicken is yummy and healthy because it is grilled, not fried.

amy blodgett, mom of two daughters, 15 and 11.

sure, fine, whatever

My hardest part of being a "working mom" is probably spending enough time with my kids as I should. I work about 45-50 hours a week and a lot of times have work functions at night and on weekends that keep me away more. Homework is usually done before I get home and checked at like 6:30 around a quickly prepared dinner (and not always the meat, veggie, and grain portion it should be). It use to be a little better before I got remarried because I'd always just focus on my kids only at home, now there is another person there lol. My kids have also had to give up a lot because I'm a WM and can't always attend PTSA, school events, b-day parties and we can't do soccer, baseball and that stuff because I'm not home a lot.

"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."

My little girl is a toddler and I want her to eat healthy. When I make food for the family at night I make a lot, and then freeze smaller meals for my daughters lunches and future dinners. Keep doing that and when the time comes and you need them. I pull one out of the freezer, nuke it and feed my daughter. I know exactly what is in the meal, and I really try to make healthy food for my family so my daughter will eat healthy. Spaghetti with veggies and ground turkey, Mac'N'Cheese made with velveta, veggies and tuna, chopped chicken; peas, and rice (add water to this one as the rice needs it). This way there is no waste and everyone gets to eat. :-)

Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette

I can handle the daily stuff - but only because we made some choices before having kids that are paying off now.

I live only about 1 mile from the daycare, and I work about 4 miles from that. So commuting time is just about nil for me. We bought the house without kids in mind, we wanted to be close to work to avoid commuting. Commuting time is dead time.

I also have a stock stable of recipes that can be cooked in 20-40min and I plan the week's dinners in advance so I don't have to run to the store last minute. So when we get home right before 6, I can still usually have dinner on the table around 6:30. I sit my son on the counter and he eats frozen vegies while I cook and we talk. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals, which are generally quicker, and we grill a lot to avoid heating up the house.

We have a TiVo, so we don't have to be watching TV at any given time, we can fit in our favorite shows after our son is in bed. We've discovered TV is a huge time suck.

The problem I have is the extras. The house is only marginally clean. I fired the cleaning service about a year ago because they weren't doing a good job. So now the bathrooms don't get cleaned often enough (which is only disgusting if you think about it) and things like that.

Then the only time we have for enrichment activities are on the weekends, so we'll go to the park or do a painiting project then, but I wish we were doing more. We read everyday of course, but other things usually have to wait until the weekend.

One thing that I have been doing a lot lately is getting my son involved in chores, like laundry and dishes. He adds the soap to either one under close supervision. Since it's something he enjoys participating in, I don't feel as bad about doing it instead of something solely focused on him. And he's finally getting to the age where he can play by himself for 10min while I do some chore.

Of course, this summer we are expecting boy #2, and at that point the whole system will go out the window for a while until we discover a new normal.

I honestly wish I had more time for me, I would like to start a side business that I've been interested in, and I'd like to get to the gym more, but those things are going to have to wait a few more years until the boys are more self sufficient. My husband works full time too, and is a fully involved Dad, so I'm fairly confident we'll get to that place eventually, just not right now.