Comments on: This Real-Life Working Mom Wants Some Real-Life Advice

By: 5 energy boosters for busy moms - The 36-Hour Day - Work It, Mom!

5 energy boosters for busy moms - The 36-Hour Day - Work It, Mom! — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:06:19 +0000

[...] always going on and on about how much I hate it when people advise me to sleep when the baby sleeps or just go to bed earlier. But, rather than write yet another rant about it, I thought I’d do [...]

By: What do working moms really want? - The 36-Hour Day - Work It, Mom!

What do working moms really want? - The 36-Hour Day - Work It, Mom! — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:24:01 +0000

[...] Parenting advice from people who have actually been working mothers. Please don’t tell me I need to sleep when the baby does — it’s just not an option when the baby naps at home while I’m in a meeting at [...]

By: bloggingmom67

bloggingmom67 — Sun, 25 May 2008 01:18:51 +0000

I hear you. Some days I feel like I’m just sprinting through the day. (And I only have two kids — not five like you — and mine aren’t babies, so they sleep a good 8 aor 9 hours.) But there’s still no time for laundry or cooking or cleaning (right!)

I’m trying to learn to let things go, but it seems whenever I do, I end up feeling guilty. (I didn’t worry about laundry, so my son wears a dirty — mud-covered — uniform to Little league.)

I forgot about paying my daughter’s school lunch in advance — so she got scolded for taking a milk she didn’t have the money to buy.

Moms just can’t let anything go, it seems sometimes.

By: Lylah

Lylah — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:17:20 +0000

Kate: 8 hours of sleep? 2 nights in a row? *swooon* Also… yep, it does seem like all the best ideas involve $$$$…

Brenda: I’m with you on the letting go of lower-level priorities! I get the laundry washed, but I end up rooting through it during the week and then folding it and putting it all away at some point — usually just in time to wash it all again!

Larissa: Thanks for reading! I hear you on the cleaning help, part — I did the math on what we’re paying our daycare/preschool each year and immediately wished I hadn’t added it all up, because man, that’s a lot of money. So I’ll be doing the cleaning for now — and making everyone pitch it, as much as possible — which is to say that the house is kind of filthy (by my standards, at any rate)!

By: Larissa

Larissa — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:25:33 +0000

Just ran across your blog, and have only read this one entry - but yeah, ouch, this working mom thing is tough. I’ve got a 2 and a half year old and a 4 month old, and I’ve been back to my full-time-plus professional job for about a month now (after a 12 week leave). Every single day I think I’m going to have time after the kids are sleeping to catch up on work, or *gasp* work on a personal project (of which I have dozens in the “planning” stage because I never actually get to the “doing” stage) - and then, every single evening, by the time both kids are in bed and the dishes are washed and I’ve got my prep done for the following morning, it’s 10 pm, and I remember how crucial getting some sleep is going to be, and I just go to bed. I’m up once or twice a night for breastfeeding, but that’s tolerable for now.

Would LOVE to hire cleaning help, but daycare costs are killing us already, so that’s not gonna happen. I frankly think that there really ISN’T any solution and we all just sort of muddle through it as best we can, trying to prioritize according to our own values, and then one day your kids are grown up or self-sufficient, and ta-da, that phase of your life is behind you…

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:56:56 +0000

it does seem that all the good ideas cost $$$$

By: Brenda

Brenda — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:58:17 +0000

I agree on the one-size fits all thing. We all know that generally speaking, what works for you may not (probably won’t) work for me. If there was ONE solution, there would be a lot of out of work psychologists out there (among other professions).

The advice I’m tired of is the “prep for the week on Sunday” reel. Seriously, if I did everything that everyone says to do on Sundays to get ready for the week (pre-make dinner, set out clothes, organize the weekly calendar, and on and on) we’d be exhausted and wouldn’t get to enjoy the time saved during the week because we’d be making up from our 20 hour “prep” day!!

At my house, we have learned to prioritize and actually let go of the lower priorities. So what if the laundry sits in the basket for a week? We have more than a week’s worth of clothes hanging in the closet after all. Who cares if we eat after our son goes to bed once in a while (okay, at least two times a week) because mommy didn’t get dinner pulled together after working late? I try to get the big stuff done and relax about the rest.

I do have one “one-size fits all” solution to share though, and this is BIG. Hire a cleaning lady! I personally now look forward to Thursdays b/c my house is clean and orderly when I get home (not to mention I have my weekends back).

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:47:23 +0000

seriously, just reading about your life exhausts, i mean inspires me!
perhaps take like one of the blogs mentioned (nataly? too lazy to look it up) - and toss over money at it? Hire a nanny to coordinate schedules/purchase and cook food/shuttle children to various activities.
Also insane portions of Zinc and vitamine C (i say as i hack and cough and sneeze with a ’spring’ cold!)
i have actually been going to bed as soon as DS goes to sleep (ok sometimes that is like 9ish, whatever) because i can’t miss out on work and not doing that will certainly mean not being able to function at work. it’s been bliss, i must say, to get 8 hours of sleep 2 nights in a row. BLISS!