Every working mother has said more than once "there's just not enough time in the day". After working, cooking, cleaning, bath time, story time, and other day to day chores, time seems to disappear. That project you started before your first born arrived will be finished sometime around their high school graduation-you've come to terms with that. Even so, how do you manage to fit everything else into a day while fighting for those quality moments with your children?
There's no easy answer, but time management is your best friend when balancing a career and family, too. Start by setting goals and limits to your daily chores. No one wants to stay up and do laundry for three hours after the kids are tucked in, nor do we want to brush aside time that could be spent with them during precious weekends sweeping floors. Instead of saving everything up to tackle at once, spread out the house duties over the entire week. Monday night it's the bathroom, Tuesday night it's the kitchen floors, etc. By splitting your time you will feel less overwhelmed and be able to focus on what is important in that moment. This is especially important when those moments are the ones with your children. When it comes to more time consuming chores set aside a two hour block on Saturday or Sunday morning to get everything done so as to free up time for your family. Whenever possible try to save house chores that your children can participate in for the weekends. Let them help push the vacuum cleaner, fold the towels, or unload the dishwasher. What you are doing with your children does not always matter; it’s being together that’s important. When you are conquering duties alone, be sure to follow your own rules. When the two hours is up, stop what you are doing and continue on to whatever family activities you have planned. By doing so, you are proving to yourself and your children what the truly important things are, though we still have to take care of the less appealing parts of everyday life.
Another important rule to follow is remembering that time spent with your children is not always about quantity, but quality. To save time during the week use Sunday afternoons to prepare meals that can be warmed up. By cutting the preparation time of evening dinners down by even twenty minutes you are giving yourself a perfect opportunity to check in with your children and give them attention each day that otherwise may have been missed. Plan to prepare a dinner that your children can help make with you at least once a week. No one should have to cram everything into one day, and by spreading out the time you spend with your children, not only will they feel important to you, but you will be less likely to feel guilty for balancing it all. Remember that no matter how busy life gets, you can only completely enjoy your time with your children when you are able to enjoy time for yourself as well. It really is the balancing act we call "Life".
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