Work/Life Balance

I have had a tough time balancing work and family life. This week I was only able to drop off/pick up Patrick a couple of times from Margaret's house. Poor Michael had to do most of it! It was my second week of attempting my 32 hour work schedule, and needless to say it did not go well. I ended up being required to work on Friday and working after Patrick goes to bed every night til 1 or 2 am. I was barely able to see Patrick and when I did see him, it was not good quality play-time because I was trying to multi-task and do dishes or laundry, etc.

I have been trying to reach out at work to a few of the other working mothers to get some advice. I inquired about our Working Mom's network meetings, which is basically just a lunch support group for the mom's in the office, and was told that there have not been any meetings in 6 months because we don't have that many working mom's any more. We have well over 200 people working for us, so I was surprised to hear that. We do have a few in the tax group, so I have been getting some tips from them. They told me it takes a good 3 months to really start to establish a routine and feel like you are able to balance it. I knew that working in public accounting was going to be difficult after having children, but I don't think I realized how difficult. I really do LOVE my job, but it is a job with a lot of tight deadlines and it can be very stressful and demanding. Hopefully once our busy season ends, I will start to feel a little better about it.

I think one of the main reasons it has been difficult is because of the sleep. Patrick does not require that much sleep and after he goes to bed is the time I have to get things done. This past week he slept from 10:30 or 11pm - 5:30 or 6am. This doesn't leave me much time to get anything done. I think I barely even say hi to Michael during the week!! The days I am the most busy and can't drop him off or pick him up seem to be the days that Patrick does not want to sleep through the night. I think Patrick knows that if he wakes up enough times i'll just give up and let him sleep with me, which is of course is his most favorite way to sleep! It is really cute because he lets out this huge satisfied sigh and cuddles really close and wraps his arm around me. It's sweet, but I definitely do not want him to get used to me getting up at 4am and going upstairs so he can sleep with me! Although Michael offers multiple times every night and encourages me to wake him up to get Patrick and feed him (Michael can sleep through anything!), I for some reason feel the need to do it myself. I'm already awake, so why wake Michael up too? I also feel like I don't get to see Patrick that much, so any time with him is better than none, even if it is smiling at each other at 2am! By the weekend, I end up being so exhausted that I can barely function. Luckily, I have a very sweet husband who volunteers to play with Patrick at 6 or 7am every Saturday and Sunday morning so I can go back to sleep for an hour or so. That really seems to help!

I'm sure we will figure it all out and be in a good routine soon! Luckily I have a very supportive husband and 2 sets of grandparents right around the corner to help! I don't think I could do it without all of their help!

It wouldn't be a good blog post without a picture, so here is a funny picture from the car this weekend (post soon to come about this weekend). He was eating some food right before this picture and I guess he was trying to tell me he wanted more by sticking his tongue out! haha!