Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Doing it all

I am becoming one of those mothers. I raise the kids, have a part-time job, have a hobby, read lots of books, cook from scratch and still find time to make homemade marmalade. But here's the thing - doing all of that is one of those things that looks impressive from the outside. If you were in my house while I was juggling these various tasks, you would see a disheveled, insane woman dancing around the kitchen to avoid the children and toys scattered around the floor.

Sure, it sounds great when I walk up to a friend, with my hair clean and makeup on to say, "Here, have this jar of homemade marmalade that I made yesterday." But the fact of the matter is, I am a nutcase. Who in their right mind does that? Who tries to take all of that on? Herein lies my point, the mothers who try to do it all are not in their right mind. Either that, or it only looks like they are doing it all.

What do it mean by that? I mean that, there are some days I have to juggle more than others. The days that there is a lot on my plate, I have to pick and choose. Showering is a luxury. Cleaning house has to wait until the kids have gone to bed. I only do my own laundry once in a blue moon (a large wardrobe makes this possible). Plus, I only get done what I do take on thanks to a large support system. My husband is more hands-on than than I ever could have dreamed and he always gives me time off when I need it. In desperate times, my parents live nearby and are always up for a visit from the grandkid crew. My in-laws visit for long stretches of time a few times a year. All of these factors make my insane aspiration to do it all possible. So really, I am not doing it all. I am just making it look like I do it all.