I once made sure I was early to pick my son up from kindergarten. He had stubbed his toe at the end of the previous day. According to his three-year-old perspective, the reason for this was “because you weren’t there.” That hurt – more than the stubbed toe. We’re all trying constantly to make every moment count.
It’s one of the most difficult and important things in the world to make every moment count… especially as a working mother.
For the past nine years I have been mothering two beautiful young men, founding a startup, working part time in a career at an Investment Bank that took a decade to build and was something else entirely to balance with two young sons, two house moves, several bouts of immigration planning sessions etc… it is the stuff we all have to cope with. Daily. There are so few hours in the day that a working mother tries desperately to make every thirty minutes count. And we still have to look hot! Or kind-of okay in my case – most days.
We forget that the fifteen-to-twenty minutes that we make our kids wait for us because we had to fit that last thing in add up… they do. When I saw my son coming back from library with his class – I saw him first – he looked deep in thought. He is related to me, after all! Then he looked up as he heard me call his name and all the colours of the rainbow of joy spread across his face as he ran into my open arms. Wow. It had been a while since I got a greeting like that from him actually…
I decided to make SURE I was on time the next day…
So how can a working mother make the most of every moment with herself, her faith, her husband, her kids, her company, her pet projects? How can we make every moment count so that our lives start to become a tapestry of happy moments woven together rather than a running together of wet colours in an oil painting where everything ends up brown from all the over mixing and rushing around?
1) Prioritise. What is most important to you? Do more of that and less of everything else…
2) Clear your diary. Just say no. I am over over-committing. I want to be on time for my kids.
3) Pause to breathe. I’ve noticed that when I am in a good and positive mood, with energy to share, the rest of my family is too. Things just seem to happen easier that way. Less tantrums, less raised voices, more aaaaaahhhhh
4) Sing. Even if you do it badly. Kids LOVE to hear your croaky voice – it makes them feel free to use their own! My son has recently started singing “rock ‘n roll” in the car with his Dad… “Are we human? Or are we dancer?”… that song is replacing Brahms Lullaby as his favorite goodnight song… maybe it’s a good thing.
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