Learning The Art of Being A Working Mom (A.K.A. Bring On The Reinforcements)

April 1, 2010, marked the first day that our family of five had two parents who work full time outside the house. Before that point we had managed to maintain the flexibility of either me or my husband working part time and/or from home. It was grand.

When my husband started his new job after many months of unemployment it was such a blessing that the issues of scheduling and time management hardly crossed our minds - for the first couple months we were floating on joy and relief. Then summer came and we enjoyed the ease of our in-home summer nanny.

So, it really wasn't until the start of school last month when reality sank in. There are simply not enough hours in the day (and I mean this literally) to work, commute, participate in the kids activities, do homework, shop, cook, clean, do laundry, see friends, continue our hobbies, maintain our property, sleep, and - most importantly - have fun as a family. My head is spinning and my heart is yearning for a simpler life.

How do we keep this up without becoming lifeless cogs in the 9-5 machine? The joy of my family is really important to me.

I here declare that I refuse to let the insanity consume me.

So what am I going to do? I am calling in the professionals.

Yep, I am finally giving in and paying people to help me balance my life. I have never liked paying for services that I can do myself, but hell, I'm at the point that I barely can!

First up, I signed up for grocery delivery service and it is spectacular. Why did I wait until now?

Next, I am meeting with LifeShine coach Michelle Stimpson tomorrow to define one thing I can start doing differently right now to help create more balance in my life. I am very excited about this opportunity for guided motivation!

Then, on Tuesday I have the professionals from In The Pink cleaning service coming for a cleaning AND organization consultation! I am seriously going to let these people into my closets and all and help me create the organized systems that a busy family like ours needs. Yay! Plus they are going to clean the place top to bottom once a month. (Yes, there is a huge smile on my face as I write that!)

When I told my friend Jenn about all this she said "Someone's got a fire lit under her!" Yeah, I know, a lot at once. But would you really expect anything less of me?

I am all about breakdown prevention!

Now I just need to find someone I can pay to do the laundry...

Light Please Overcome The Shadows

Beautiful Lindsay, my sister's beloved buddy - her soul mate that I never have been. Today we celebrated your life and grieved that this world was only granted the grace of your soul for 28 short years. Although I never knew you well, you have been an always present part of my life - my sister's other sister.

Today the room was adorned with 1,000 cranes - it was gorgeous, a reflection of you - a Chinese symbol of peace. It took many friends a full week to fold the origami birds in your honor. I think back on the 1,000 cranes you folded for my sister's wedding all on your own. The countless hours you must have spent folding the tiny papers in sheer love and dedication to your friend. Such a gift for her. You were such a gift for her.

Now, I will do what I can to fill that void.

Death always casts such a dark shadow, but the illness you suffered leading to this point makes it seem all the more unjust. Lymes Disease. How a tiny tick could lead to such suffering is so hard to understand. It is so misunderstood. More must be done to prevent this pain from others.

I mourn for your parents. The loss they have suffered is more than I can imagine. I was so proud of your Mom today. She is so proud to be your mom. You and Jennie lived too short of lives, but the impression you made in the world while you were here was very clear today.

I believe there is light beyond the shadows and the two of you are basking in it within each other's arms right now. May your souls live on in peace.

For Suz, please lean on me. I will be here for you, I promise.

Releasing

It felt good to close the month of September. It is always a month of such tremendous transition for everyone as we move into fall and release our children to their professional educators for another year of school. New routines, new people, and new excitement - and lot of new stress as we adjust to it all.

To make room for the changes, I've been focusing on physically and mentally clearing the clutter.

Remember how I was trying to reduce the contents of my house by 25 percent last winter? Well, I did pretty good. All of this went out the door at the garage sale in May...

(No, I'm not a creepy hoarder, that is a picture of my garage the night before the garage sale.)

But we never made it to our bedroom while we were doing the clean out, and really that should be the most clutter free area of the house. So, I've spent a chunk of the past few weekends sorting through clothes and memorabilia and making some small decor improvements to transform our bedroom into the relaxing sanctuary it should be. It's getting close!

I also made a point to create time for some family fun and mental refreshment, a much-needed exercise during a particularly trying period at work. We spent Labor Day weekend with friends at the lake where we had a blast with the kids (wow that feels like more than a month ago!). Then mid-month my husband and I took a long weekend in Massachusetts for a belated 10-year anniversary celebration. It was oh so nice to relax together and just, well, play. One of the highlights of our trip was the Life is Good festival, which was a joy-inspiring event. I love this picture...

And here we are back in the spot we were engaged 11 years ago in Marblehead.

While vacationing, I had the opportunity to evaluate everything filling my mind so I could release anything unnecessary (believe me, I tend to carry a lot of extra stuff in there). One of the things I decided to let go is my Family Goes Green blog. I have not maintained it and I am obsessive enough to allow a stagnant blog to be a source of stress. Its not that I don't still have passion for the topic, its that we are simply living the experience and I guess I just don't have a lot to say about it - as I'm sure you can feel if you've read it, my writing has felt forced and uninspired. I figure if I'm not benefiting from it and nobody else is benefiting from it, why keep it?! So farewell to my well-intentioned blog. I will keep your spirit alive on these pages.

Here's to a wonderful school year in which we can all find room for the joy amidst our busy routines.