Back after a hiatus and a “bender” – was not doing well with combatting my supermom-ness and suffered a bit as a result. This meant I wanted to write my next “perfect” blog post. Again. What is that about insanity being doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
ANYWAY, I keep meeting MBAs across the country for my day job and the work-life balance issue is asked about over and over and over again. When I was in business school everyone was so vague about it. I think there are really concrete answers about when to have a baby, what to consider if you even WANT a baby. This is what my book will be about, if I can ever find time to finishing writing it. A friend of a friend mine is a screenwriter, and she said she woke at 4:30AM every morning to write before her kiddo awoke. I am doing that today but thought about how that schedule requires you to go to bed at 9:30PM, meaning I would have very little time with my husband. Man, this work-life balance thing is tricky. But I am going to interview a good sampling of professional women I admire to see what nuggets I can glean from the moments in their lives that feel balanced. I also want to find common themes, and prove out in more detail some of the theories I have developed from my experience adjusting to working motherhood, and those set forth in one of my favorite working mother books, The Working Mother’s Guide to Life.
Do you know of anyone I should interview because they have achieved some modicum of work life balance? Looking for non-MBAs especially, like doctors, lawyers, engineers, dentists, pharmacists, artists, writers, any other professional level job.
Tales of a Recovering Supermom 
Karen,
I’m no supermom, but the past two years have allowed me to juggle a loving attorney husband, a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, breast cancer, a mastectomy, 4 reconstructive surgeries, and two job layoffs.
I don’t know if I’ve found “balance”, but I have found that everyday, every moment, I have to re-evaluate my expectations for myself and my life. Some days are 90% Me Days when I’m recovering from surgeries. Some weekends are 87% Kids Days when we travel from on birthday party to another. Some days are 70% work days when we’ve got a major project due. I try not to let work days get above 70% when I’m at home so I have something in the tank for the kids and hubby. And, once a month, I have a standing date with other mother girlfriends for a night out. We lift each other up, share advice and just renew our batteries.
My final words of wisdom are: “Stop Comparing Yourself to the TV sitcom moms we grew up watching!” Carol Brady was a stay at home mom with a maid and all her kids where in grade school! We NEVER saw Claire Huxtable in a courtroom, or doing depositions despite her being a lawyer. Heck, Cliff Huxtable saw obstetric patients in the basement of the house (is that legal?). All I’m saying is that June Cleaver, Lucy Arnez, Mrs. Seaver, and Marge Simpson all hear seething that Moms in the real world never hear, “Cut! That’s a wrap!”
Andrea