Balance

I've started working regularly again. I am so thankful to have been offered two days a week teaching primary school music until the end of the year. It is actually my ideal job. I had started to become frustrated that I wasn't finding fulfilling work. After ten years of casual teaching the idea of being a teacher for the rest of my life made me feel weary and quite unsettled. This opportunity excites me and I feel a renewed energy towards teaching.

Already we have had to re-adjust our lives accordingly, and I find myself wondering how mothers who work full-time do it. The first two days of the week are now crammed with a rearrangement of after-school activities and appointments and come Friday I am exhausted. So are the kids. Their days are longer now and they are at home a lot less. Before and after school care is wonderful but extends their school day by a few hours, and Miss Two is bringing home an array of germs and bugs from an extra day at daycare.

The house is a mess and there are things I have had to let go off. I find myself glancing around the home and thinking 'that will do - that's good enough'.
Weekends are now for catching up on washing and house cleaning and Mondays are my new grocery shopping day.

Meals aren't quite what they used to be either. Mid-week we are turning to meals that can be put together in under 20 minutes. I juggle the bath/shower routine while cooking a meal, usually still in my work clothes and shoes as I literally walk in the door and begin the evening dance.

It is new, it is tiring and it is a juggle. But I am finding it is worth it. I feel like somehow, even though life seems more chaotic and fast paced, there is more balance. I waste a lot less time procrastinating and more time 'doing'. I have an appreciation for the down-time when it comes and I find I am stressing much less over finances.

No matter how fast life gets I know that balance can always be found. It might be tricker but with practice and the right attitude it can be just as enjoyable.

I hope you have some balance in your busy daily life.
xx