Life as a working mother

Since yesterday was one of the days where my title as a working mother was challenged, I thought maybe today I should talk about that topic a little bit. Nothing dramatic happened, my son had a high fever, so I rushed back home in the afternoon and have not been getting enough sleep just to monitor his temperature (shot up to 39 degrees last night). But surprisingly, I still have the energy to go to work and blog. Maybe I’ll last until 5pm only or even before, we shall see.

So what about my life as working mother? Husband thinks it’s a great topic to talk about with all the women empowerment mantra, encouraging the women to stay in the workforce, to push for higher percentage for women on board etc.

It’s been slightly more than a year since I held that title and I have to say I’m loving it. Can’t imagine me leaving the workforce. It’s a nice balance to have and in fact my son is the source of my motivation. Makes me want to push myself harder so that he is proud of his mother.

Having said that, I’m still trying to find the right balance, or maybe there is no such thing as balanced-life everyday. There will be days when I have to multi-task everything that I get so stressed out. There will be days when everything is calm and smooth I feel like I’m a perfect wife, perfect mother, perfect daughter and perfect at work. But that doesn’t happen everyday and such is life. It’s a journey, it’s a process that I try to find the balance here and there. What helps in getting the balance?

1. Understanding work environment especially boss and colleagues
2. Plan your work in advance to avoid any last minute or adhoc work
3. Know your priority

Number 3 is the most important one. You have to know your priority and you decide when to stop working and go home. Everyone has a choice and it’s up to us to choose what’s important, when to show up etc.

Also, no complains if you choose this path. You want to be a working mother, you have to know the sacrifice that you have to make such as sacrifice sleep. Embrace it, accept it, so that you don’t have to be stressed about it. And if you have to leave your home a few days for work, do it without any guilt. It’s good to be away to refresh, reflect and reenergize. I know it’s easier said that done. I’ve done it but usually only the 1st night is difficult.

But I have to say that I wouldn’t be able to pull it through without a strong support system. And I’m blessed to have one.