Mamas Tell All: Making Motherhood Work [a linkup]
This week's prompt is: Are you a working mom, a stay at home mom or something else entirely, and how do you make that role work for your family?
When Nate was born, I was the breadwinner for our family (a working outside the home mom - WOHM). Rodgers had just graduated from college and was looking for a full-time job, while working part-time. (I used to do a blog linkup in those days called "Working Mommy Wednesday." Remembering this got me sucked into a vortex of reading those past posts. That was some fun stuff!) I have also done a few stints as a stay-at-home mom (SAHM), which I have to say: I loved.
Now I guess I'm a work-from-home mom without childcare (WFHMWOC) because I do some work for Maisha Kamili, which I talked about in a previous MTA, but most of my time is occupied with keeping house and taking care of my kids. The oldest is in school all day, 5 days a week, and the youngest will join him in January, which will turn me into a standard WFHM.
How does it work for us? Scheduled flexibility. Or flexible scheduling.
I schedule housework and laundry weekly and try (this part is harder) to get daily tasks done in specific time frames. I try to do most of the housework while Rodgers and Nate are gone during the day so that we can all relax in the evenings.
However, having Ben still at home, I get a lot of interruptions. I don't mind them so much. I love that I get to hang out with him one-on-one until he starts school. I discipline myself to stick to the schedule, as in not wasting time or procrastinating, but I am flexible when it comes to Ben's interruptions, which include making many snacks, extended lunch breaks, fort building, holding paper for him to practice cutting, writing and coloring together, snuggling, looking at stuff outside, and sometimes even playing with toys.
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| What WFHMWOC looks like. I type a few lines, I look up to see his new trick. And repeat. |
Now I guess I'm a work-from-home mom without childcare (WFHMWOC) because I do some work for Maisha Kamili, which I talked about in a previous MTA, but most of my time is occupied with keeping house and taking care of my kids. The oldest is in school all day, 5 days a week, and the youngest will join him in January, which will turn me into a standard WFHM.
How does it work for us? Scheduled flexibility. Or flexible scheduling.
I schedule housework and laundry weekly and try (this part is harder) to get daily tasks done in specific time frames. I try to do most of the housework while Rodgers and Nate are gone during the day so that we can all relax in the evenings.
However, having Ben still at home, I get a lot of interruptions. I don't mind them so much. I love that I get to hang out with him one-on-one until he starts school. I discipline myself to stick to the schedule, as in not wasting time or procrastinating, but I am flexible when it comes to Ben's interruptions, which include making many snacks, extended lunch breaks, fort building, holding paper for him to practice cutting, writing and coloring together, snuggling, looking at stuff outside, and sometimes even playing with toys.
Check out how their many roles work for other moms at the linkup:
Keeping to a schedule is the best way to get the most out of our days! Great point!
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