Today is one of those days I treasure the most...I'm taking the day off! Yes, I am starting my Easter weekend today and its an amazing feeling!
Today is a big day in our household, as our first child, Miss J, has Kindergarten Round-up! I can remember J as a baby when I just heard the term “Kindergarten Round-Up”. Now I am mere hours away from walking my daughter into elementary school for the first time. I wanted to make it a special day and spend the day with her. Plus, I couldn't possibly miss the Easter Egg Hunt at day-care later today! So today is just one of those happy days where I can stay in my jammies until 9:30, look in my kids' eyes and say “Mommy is NOT going to work today!”
Like most people, I complain about my job a lot. On the weeks I have back to back appellate briefs, or a travel schedule that crosses my eyes, I often get down on my job. But, I’m reminded on days like these how lucky I am. Sure, its hard work, sure its stressful, sure it means a lot of late nights. But, because of the career I have, and the firm I have chosen, I can make an entire day out of Kindergarten Round-up. Days like this remind me that I have chosen the right career path.
Because of my job, I rarely have to miss a parents’ breakfast, rarely miss a field trip, never send my child to daycare with a cold. I work with people who happily cover court appearances and depositions when I have to head to a school party, or a morning doctor appointment.
My husband punches in at work, and can't miss work without incurring a "hit" which could (if enough hits are accumulated) lead to termination. Watching him deal with the time clock has made me very aware of how truly blessed I am.
I was in an all day mediation yesterday that took about 9 hours to complete. It was a huge case with a lot of parties. We worked hard to settle it and because of that we did not finish until 6:30 p.m. I had scheduled this mediation on a day when Todd was home, so I didn’t mind having to stay longer than my usual end-of-day. But one of the clients at the mediation was walking out and stopped to thank all the attorneys at the mediation. He looked at us and said “This is why I could never be an attorney, too many late hours”. I smiled, keeping my secret that actually, this career CAN be one of the best to raise children with.
Now before you roll your eyes at me, remember I said it CAN be. I know that it is not the norm for this profession to be the perfect fit for a family. But this career comes with a special gift...flexibility. Flexibility is a working Mom's best friend.
The flexibility, the ability to choose your corner of the legal world, is what I love the most about this career. That flexibility is not necessary easy, but its there. Sure it takes career sacrifices, often less pay, less respect, fewer accolades. But, because of this flexibility a lawyer can be anyone from a sole practicioner working 3 days a week to a big city lawyer billing 80+ hours. There are so many ways to make a career out of the legal profession. This is the reason why I sat bored to tears in constitutional law, why I didn't sleep for a week before the Iowa bar exam. It's the reason behind the mountains of school loans, the hard work, the tears, the stress. Like I have said before, in order for me to be a working Mom and leave my kids everyday I had to find a job I love. So, legal profession, please accept this blog as my love letter to you!
Days like this, where I can have the day off to make Kindergarten Round-up memorable for my daughter reminds me that I'm lucky to be J.D. Mom.
Now, off to celebrate my day off!
Mandi
Showing posts with label day in the life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day in the life. Show all posts
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Running Me
There's a line in a Lady Antebellum song, "I run my life. . . or is it running me?" More and more often, I'm finding that no matter how hard I try, my life is definitely running me.
I've pretty much been having "that" day since Friday. Like every weekend, we were over scheduled this weekend. KJ and Sweet Pea had gymnastics, hockey and a birthday party to attend all on Saturday. On Friday night, KJ got sick with what we thought was an ear infection. So between gymnastics and hockey, I squeezed in a visit to the pedi. He did have an infection. . . in each ear. But the ear infection symptoms quickly turned into flu-like symptoms and before you know it, we had a miserable little guy who couldn't keep any food down.
Sweet Pea, meanwhile, went rouge on the potty training. Once a happy potty-going girl, she now is not only not telling us she has to go, but is taking off her diaper because it's yucky. Yucky for her, yes. But even yuckier for me to have to clean it up. Between the vomit and other stuff, my washer pretty much ran from 6 am yesterday until the kids went to bed.
While we were managing all of that, Husband was trying to fix our fence, which has apparently rotted in two different places, causing two entire sections of the fence to almost fall over in a recent wind storm. While not an emergency, the strain from the broken parts on the rest of the fence meant that it needed immediate attention. So, while I was primarily taking care of the kids, Husband was outside, trying to drill rotten wood out of concrete some 18+ inches in the ground.
And then there was this morning. Just in case I thought Monday might bring me some relief from the craziness that had been our weekend, I got on the train this morning only to learn that all of trains on my line were "substantially" delayed due to a fire in an engine on an earlier train. Normally, I take delays in stride. But today I had court. So I had to call around the office to see who could cover my court call in case I didn't make it in time. Thankfully, I did make it in time. But ironically, the judge wasn't sitting today, so my motion was continued to another day. And when I reported this to the partner, he was irritated at me because the next court date was so far away.
And it goes on. I have no hope for the week getting better. KJ is still sick. Husband is home with him today. My work week that had been free of deadlines now has three separate Friday deadlines for involved, complicated matters. And we're trying to squeeze in a visit to my in-laws who we haven't seen since Thanksgiving and who have been too sick to travel to see us. It's pretty much a mess.
I don't how I can change things to make our lives more manageable, but I can tell you that I cannot continue on this pace. I'm exhausted and pretty much at the end of my line. Adding in things like travel to see the in laws (who deserve a visit and are wonderful to our kids) and I start to feel like I just can't do it all. We aren't really living our lives right now, we're rushing around from one thing to the next. What I need more than anything is to slow down for just a minute, and enjoy the moment, even if it involves vomit. But with all of these obligations, I just don't know how I can afford to do it. Any advice from you other working moms out there? How do you make it happen?
I've pretty much been having "that" day since Friday. Like every weekend, we were over scheduled this weekend. KJ and Sweet Pea had gymnastics, hockey and a birthday party to attend all on Saturday. On Friday night, KJ got sick with what we thought was an ear infection. So between gymnastics and hockey, I squeezed in a visit to the pedi. He did have an infection. . . in each ear. But the ear infection symptoms quickly turned into flu-like symptoms and before you know it, we had a miserable little guy who couldn't keep any food down.
Sweet Pea, meanwhile, went rouge on the potty training. Once a happy potty-going girl, she now is not only not telling us she has to go, but is taking off her diaper because it's yucky. Yucky for her, yes. But even yuckier for me to have to clean it up. Between the vomit and other stuff, my washer pretty much ran from 6 am yesterday until the kids went to bed.
While we were managing all of that, Husband was trying to fix our fence, which has apparently rotted in two different places, causing two entire sections of the fence to almost fall over in a recent wind storm. While not an emergency, the strain from the broken parts on the rest of the fence meant that it needed immediate attention. So, while I was primarily taking care of the kids, Husband was outside, trying to drill rotten wood out of concrete some 18+ inches in the ground.
And then there was this morning. Just in case I thought Monday might bring me some relief from the craziness that had been our weekend, I got on the train this morning only to learn that all of trains on my line were "substantially" delayed due to a fire in an engine on an earlier train. Normally, I take delays in stride. But today I had court. So I had to call around the office to see who could cover my court call in case I didn't make it in time. Thankfully, I did make it in time. But ironically, the judge wasn't sitting today, so my motion was continued to another day. And when I reported this to the partner, he was irritated at me because the next court date was so far away.
And it goes on. I have no hope for the week getting better. KJ is still sick. Husband is home with him today. My work week that had been free of deadlines now has three separate Friday deadlines for involved, complicated matters. And we're trying to squeeze in a visit to my in-laws who we haven't seen since Thanksgiving and who have been too sick to travel to see us. It's pretty much a mess.
I don't how I can change things to make our lives more manageable, but I can tell you that I cannot continue on this pace. I'm exhausted and pretty much at the end of my line. Adding in things like travel to see the in laws (who deserve a visit and are wonderful to our kids) and I start to feel like I just can't do it all. We aren't really living our lives right now, we're rushing around from one thing to the next. What I need more than anything is to slow down for just a minute, and enjoy the moment, even if it involves vomit. But with all of these obligations, I just don't know how I can afford to do it. Any advice from you other working moms out there? How do you make it happen?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Day of Rest??????
Whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest? I can remember all the years where Sunday meant lying around, enjoying a movie, or just kicking back. Now, Sundays are anything BUT relaxing.
Want to see how far I have come from the days of the relaxing Sunday?? Well, allow me to share with you my past Sunday:
4:00 a.m. – L wakes up for a bottle. L is the greatest baby in the world so really when he does wake up for a bottle it usually is only 10 minutes max and then he returns to his peaceful slumber.
7:00 a.m. – Woken up by H’s excited voice: “Mommy its morning!!”. Kids and I travel downstairs to start our day.
7:15 a.m – Feeding time – Feed the baby, feed the kids, feed the dog…notice who was forgotten from this list??? Oh well, there’s always lunch.
8:00 a.m. – Time to get dressed. In a tornado of jeans, shirts, a onesie, socks, underwear, and diapers I manage to get them all put together! Have my typical Sunday “argument” with J: “Honey, its Sunday and we’re not doing anything…you don’t need to wear a fancy dress”.
8:15 a.m. – Realize that it is after 8:00 a.m. and we have so much to do so I run upstairs…time for a shower? Not really. So I settle for a quick jump in for blast of water and soap and deal with the fact I didn’t get to wash my hair. No time for makeup really, so brush the hair and teeth, put on jeans and a long-sleeve shirt and give myself the “This will have to due” look in the mirror.
8:30 a.m. – Server down at work, which means I was not able to work during my normal “evening shift” i.e. after the kids go to bed. So we have to go down to the office. Bundle up the kids in a slew of coats and hats and load up the mini-van. Park in the deck and juggle L in his car seat, hold J and H’s hands and try not to drop the large bag of toys I have packed to try and keep the kids entertained.
8:40 – 11:00 a.m. – Office time with the 3 Muskateers. For me, it was a time that I could work on a motion I had due…for them they got to litter/decorate my office with post-it notes, tape, and my business cards. Again L sealed the deal as best baby in the world because he sat on my floor playing with the same 3 rattles this entire time.
11:15 a.m. – Back home and time for lunch. J wants a “Turkey sandwich with cheese”, H wants “Turkey sandwich…no turkey”, L may not want it but he’s getting peas and apples. And finally I get a chance to grab something to eat…although after trying to remember who wanted their sandwich cut, who didn’t, who wanted apple juice, who wanted chocolate milk, and refereeing the battle over who got more Goldfish on their plate I settle for some turkey and cheese thrown haphazardly on some bread.
12:00 p.m. – Wake the husband up (who was sleeping from being up all night working the night before) and deliver to him the boys. They all lie down for a nap, while J and I head to cheerleading practice.
12:15 p.m. – Watch my little cheerleader enjoying her class!
1:00 p.m. – Weekly grocery shopping trip. I always like going alone because when the kids are with me my cart ends up having 90% snacks, 10% food. But, due to the time constraints I have to take J. We manage to get out alive during a Sunday rush at the store! Of course we had time for another “argument” regarding why she couldn’t get a happy birthday balloon bouquet because her birthday is not until July.
2:00 p.m. – Home to put groceries away, i.e. the game to find the bags of frozen/cold food first so several hours later I don’t come across a container of butter that was left out with the cereal and chips.
2:15 p.m. – Realize that I forgot the eggs I need for the meatloaf. J and I jump in the van and head to the store AGAIN. Of course J needs something for her so we settle on reddish purple lip gloss.
2:30 p.m. – Start dinner so that it is ready by the time Todd goes to work. Meatloaf put in the oven.
2:45 p.m. – Wake up Todd so I can get some time to work on the motion I didn’t finish this morning. Kids wake up from nap and play with Daddy while I work.
4:30 p.m. – Finish Motion and email it to the assigning partner. Check the meatloaf and make mashed potatoes (thankfully talked the hubby into peeling the potatoes!). Rolls in the oven, corn in the microwave. Try to explain to H why he can’t have Toy Story fruit snacks with his dinner, but give up and decide to pick my battles. I toss a Toy Story fruit snack next to his plate...do fruit snacks count as a serving of fruit?
5:00 p.m. – Dinner on the table. Sit down with the family even though Todd has to leave home by 5:15 to get to work. Dinner interrupted by a call from the senior partner who tries to talk loud enough over J as she demands justice after her brother looked at her wrong. The partner tells me he needs a set of jury instructions for a trial he has in the morning. Start to panic a little bit knowing the server was still down and I’d have to go back down to work.
5:45 p.m. – Bundle up the kids and head down the office again. Get to work to find out that the senior partner doesn’t need the jury instructions. Head back home.
6:00 p.m. - Clean up the kitchen and start a load of laundry.
6:30 p.m. – Bath time. 3 kids washed and scrubbed…I change my shirt since L recently discovered how much fun it is to splash in the big boy tub!
7:15 p.m. – Back down stairs after bath -three cleaned and jammied up kids in tow. Give L his bottle while J and H play Toy Story!
7:30 p.m. – Good night little L. A quick Lullabye and snuggle and off to dream land. Say a little thank you prayer to God for such a great baby.
7:45 p.m. – Snuggle up on the couch with J and H and watch Toy Story 3 for the 1000th time. Laugh when they seemed surprised about something that happens!
8:00 p.m. – Snack time…cheese and crackers plated and served! And yes I actually remembered myself here too!
8:30 p.m. – Upstairs to get ready for bed. Brush teeth, potty time, story time, H’s “Goodnight” song, J’s “lay with me for 9 minutes Mommy”. Kisses, hugs, I love you’s, one more hug, one more kiss, "close my closet", "turn my night light on", "Mommy does Santa live in heaven?"... and finally… Good night J and H!
9:00 p.m. – Return downstairs and change out laundry.
9:15 p.m. – Sit down to prepare for a trial the next day.
11:30 p.m. – Finish work and text with Todd for awhile to vent on my day.
12:00 a.m. (Monday)– Let the dog out, fold laundry, and start to watch Brothers and Sisters – desperate for some downtime with the Walker clan. Could wait until tomorrow but know I have to watch it now before someone ruins it for me the next day!
1:00 a.m. – Hit the pillow and sigh knowing that tomorrow is already Monday again!
So again I have to ask…what happened to relaxing Sundays? Maybe they will make their appearance again in about 20 years???
Mandi
Want to see how far I have come from the days of the relaxing Sunday?? Well, allow me to share with you my past Sunday:
4:00 a.m. – L wakes up for a bottle. L is the greatest baby in the world so really when he does wake up for a bottle it usually is only 10 minutes max and then he returns to his peaceful slumber.
7:00 a.m. – Woken up by H’s excited voice: “Mommy its morning!!”. Kids and I travel downstairs to start our day.
7:15 a.m – Feeding time – Feed the baby, feed the kids, feed the dog…notice who was forgotten from this list??? Oh well, there’s always lunch.
8:00 a.m. – Time to get dressed. In a tornado of jeans, shirts, a onesie, socks, underwear, and diapers I manage to get them all put together! Have my typical Sunday “argument” with J: “Honey, its Sunday and we’re not doing anything…you don’t need to wear a fancy dress”.
8:15 a.m. – Realize that it is after 8:00 a.m. and we have so much to do so I run upstairs…time for a shower? Not really. So I settle for a quick jump in for blast of water and soap and deal with the fact I didn’t get to wash my hair. No time for makeup really, so brush the hair and teeth, put on jeans and a long-sleeve shirt and give myself the “This will have to due” look in the mirror.
8:30 a.m. – Server down at work, which means I was not able to work during my normal “evening shift” i.e. after the kids go to bed. So we have to go down to the office. Bundle up the kids in a slew of coats and hats and load up the mini-van. Park in the deck and juggle L in his car seat, hold J and H’s hands and try not to drop the large bag of toys I have packed to try and keep the kids entertained.
8:40 – 11:00 a.m. – Office time with the 3 Muskateers. For me, it was a time that I could work on a motion I had due…for them they got to litter/decorate my office with post-it notes, tape, and my business cards. Again L sealed the deal as best baby in the world because he sat on my floor playing with the same 3 rattles this entire time.
11:15 a.m. – Back home and time for lunch. J wants a “Turkey sandwich with cheese”, H wants “Turkey sandwich…no turkey”, L may not want it but he’s getting peas and apples. And finally I get a chance to grab something to eat…although after trying to remember who wanted their sandwich cut, who didn’t, who wanted apple juice, who wanted chocolate milk, and refereeing the battle over who got more Goldfish on their plate I settle for some turkey and cheese thrown haphazardly on some bread.
12:00 p.m. – Wake the husband up (who was sleeping from being up all night working the night before) and deliver to him the boys. They all lie down for a nap, while J and I head to cheerleading practice.
12:15 p.m. – Watch my little cheerleader enjoying her class!
1:00 p.m. – Weekly grocery shopping trip. I always like going alone because when the kids are with me my cart ends up having 90% snacks, 10% food. But, due to the time constraints I have to take J. We manage to get out alive during a Sunday rush at the store! Of course we had time for another “argument” regarding why she couldn’t get a happy birthday balloon bouquet because her birthday is not until July.
2:00 p.m. – Home to put groceries away, i.e. the game to find the bags of frozen/cold food first so several hours later I don’t come across a container of butter that was left out with the cereal and chips.
2:15 p.m. – Realize that I forgot the eggs I need for the meatloaf. J and I jump in the van and head to the store AGAIN. Of course J needs something for her so we settle on reddish purple lip gloss.
2:30 p.m. – Start dinner so that it is ready by the time Todd goes to work. Meatloaf put in the oven.
2:45 p.m. – Wake up Todd so I can get some time to work on the motion I didn’t finish this morning. Kids wake up from nap and play with Daddy while I work.
4:30 p.m. – Finish Motion and email it to the assigning partner. Check the meatloaf and make mashed potatoes (thankfully talked the hubby into peeling the potatoes!). Rolls in the oven, corn in the microwave. Try to explain to H why he can’t have Toy Story fruit snacks with his dinner, but give up and decide to pick my battles. I toss a Toy Story fruit snack next to his plate...do fruit snacks count as a serving of fruit?
5:00 p.m. – Dinner on the table. Sit down with the family even though Todd has to leave home by 5:15 to get to work. Dinner interrupted by a call from the senior partner who tries to talk loud enough over J as she demands justice after her brother looked at her wrong. The partner tells me he needs a set of jury instructions for a trial he has in the morning. Start to panic a little bit knowing the server was still down and I’d have to go back down to work.
5:45 p.m. – Bundle up the kids and head down the office again. Get to work to find out that the senior partner doesn’t need the jury instructions. Head back home.
6:00 p.m. - Clean up the kitchen and start a load of laundry.
6:30 p.m. – Bath time. 3 kids washed and scrubbed…I change my shirt since L recently discovered how much fun it is to splash in the big boy tub!
7:15 p.m. – Back down stairs after bath -three cleaned and jammied up kids in tow. Give L his bottle while J and H play Toy Story!
7:30 p.m. – Good night little L. A quick Lullabye and snuggle and off to dream land. Say a little thank you prayer to God for such a great baby.
7:45 p.m. – Snuggle up on the couch with J and H and watch Toy Story 3 for the 1000th time. Laugh when they seemed surprised about something that happens!
8:00 p.m. – Snack time…cheese and crackers plated and served! And yes I actually remembered myself here too!
8:30 p.m. – Upstairs to get ready for bed. Brush teeth, potty time, story time, H’s “Goodnight” song, J’s “lay with me for 9 minutes Mommy”. Kisses, hugs, I love you’s, one more hug, one more kiss, "close my closet", "turn my night light on", "Mommy does Santa live in heaven?"... and finally… Good night J and H!
9:00 p.m. – Return downstairs and change out laundry.
9:15 p.m. – Sit down to prepare for a trial the next day.
11:30 p.m. – Finish work and text with Todd for awhile to vent on my day.
12:00 a.m. (Monday)– Let the dog out, fold laundry, and start to watch Brothers and Sisters – desperate for some downtime with the Walker clan. Could wait until tomorrow but know I have to watch it now before someone ruins it for me the next day!
1:00 a.m. – Hit the pillow and sigh knowing that tomorrow is already Monday again!
So again I have to ask…what happened to relaxing Sundays? Maybe they will make their appearance again in about 20 years???
Mandi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)