The Struggle between working and not....

The past month has been an eye-awakening experience for me. As a professional working woman, I've always taken great pride in my accomplishments and loved what I do. Don't get me wrong - I still love it...but, lately, there's this little inner voice that continues to get louder about staying home or at least flexing my schedule.

Last month, our sitter was off for about 2 weeks due to illness. So, thankfully, I was able to flex my schedule so I was able to drop off my kids at school and then pick them up in the afternoon. For the first time in 2 years, I realized something was new....peace. I recognized immediately how my children were thriving and we were actually able to play during the week - versus the mad dash of homework, showers, dinner, and the bedtime routine during the school week. After the 2 weeks, I have to admit that I longed for that time to return but just didn't know how to make it happen. And, again, I love what I do for a living -so those moments were put on the back burner.

Well, today, I think God might be sending me a wake-up call. Have you ever had one? I'm driving in a rural area where I work and all of the sudden I hear this radio program that addresses the working mom. I'll never forget that moment....the talk show host says, "Have you ever seen the mother who is picking up her children from daycare and the children are jumping on her and jumping up and down? What does she do? She tells them to be quiet and get moving." Hmmmm.....boy, that sounded awfully familiar to me. Not every day, but it seems like we are always in a hurry. The talk show host had definitely gotten my attention.

She further went on to describe that it wasn't the working mother's fault - it was just that she had given so much all day at the office and was already thinking about the 100 things she had to do at home before getting the kids off to bed...and, then collapsing at the end of the night. Hmmmm....again, that sounded way to familiar. Unfortunately, the radio show didn't offer any answers....but I got the message. We only have 1 chance to raise our children in our lifetime. 1 chance....1 chance to tell them how much we love them....1 chance to cuddle up at night....1 chance to die Easter eggs while it's still fun....and 1 chance to build up their confidence so that they can succeed in whatever they try. Well, God, I heard you today.

If you, like me, have to work or choose to work while you are raising your children...make sure you cherish every moment that you have with them. Before we know it - they'll be grown up.