Flashback Wednesday: Extreme Juggling

by Abby on August 31, 2011

With the hurricane aftermath, power outages, doctors’ appointments, deadlines, and the delayed start of school, this week has been so stressful I fear my head might literally explode at any moment. And you KNOW that would be a way worse clean-up than the time my youngest sneezed while eating yogurt. So I’m running this “how does she do it?” post from my archives. Let the games begin!

Extreme Juggling, or The Art of Being a WAHM

JugglerIs your life lacking excitement? Dull, predictable, each day like the one before? Have I got a solution for you — become a work-at-home mom! Your days will be FILLED with challenges and games, like:

Phone tag. Need to reach an important person ASAP? Call him first thing in the morning before your husband leaves for work; get his voicemail. Then HE calls YOU back while you’re in the preschool drop-off line; gets your voicemail. Then YOU call HIM back as soon as you get home, but he’s tied up until 12 – the exact worst time for you, doing the pick-up/lunchtime/naptime hustle. This game can go on for DAYS!

Extreme juggling. You’ve got a packed day filled with meetings, phone calls, and deadlines. Just as you’re leaving the house, the phone rings. It’s the school – surprise! School’s cancelled due to a power outage. OR, it’s the sitter calling in sick. Time to juggle!

Phone backup sitter; find out she can only take the baby. Phone classmate to line up playdate for your older kid; find out that mom can do it, but only for 2 hours. Beg your husband to go into work late; find out he has an important appointment he can’t reschedule. Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. You always do! Isn’t this EXCITING?!?!

Pajama parties. OK, maybe working into the wee hours in your PJs isn’t exactly a party, but you always said you wanted to experience the thrill of those late nights again, didn’t you? Only now the excitement isn’t who will you meet or what new club will you get into, but will your computer crash before you back up that important file and will your printer run out of ink before you print out that crucial contract?

7 Minutes in Heaven. No, not the kissing game in the closet. Those 7 minutes of silence you may or may not get to make a phone call during that brief period when the baby’s nap overlaps with the preschooler’s TV show. Those precious few minutes when no one is wailing from their crib, pulling on your arm for a snack, or calling loudly from the bathroom for you to come wipe them.

The thing is, you never know if you’re going to get those 7 silent minutes or not. And that’s the fun of it!!

Musical childcare. Drop off son at school, drop off baby at sitter’s. Work. Pick up son at school, take him to friend’s house for a playdate. Pick up baby from sitter’s, take him home for a nap. Work. Ask neighbor to come over and sit with baby while you run to pick up son from playdate. Ask husband to come home early so you can finish up your work. If any piece of this puzzle falls through for any reason, see “Extreme juggling” above.

I’m telling you, it’s nothing but nonstop fun and games around here. Also, coffee. Lots and LOTS of coffee. So what are you waiting for? Become a work-at-home mom today and join the party! But watch out -– all the excitement might kill you.

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Malia Jacobson August 31, 2011 at 12:42 pm

You know I can relate! And gosh, as if that stress weren’t enough, I just keep upping the ante. I must be a stress junkie.

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Kathleen Basi August 31, 2011 at 1:01 pm

Hee hee! I resemble this post. Especially this week!

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Lou Mello August 31, 2011 at 7:12 pm

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, working Moms at home are the most amazing beings on the planet. I multi-task a bit and it doesn’t come close to you guys.

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Jennifer September 1, 2011 at 9:39 am

Oh my goodness. Are you sure that you’re not spying on me? Because I think I could have written almost every word of that post.

Only, I would have also added the part about how you land an interview with some big muckety-muck, only to have your toddler shouting “BALL! BALL! BALL!” over and over in the background because he refused to nap while you did the interview. And then you have to explain to said muckety-muck that yeah, you’re a work-at-home mother, and he’s 18 months old, and well, he was supposed to be napping…

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Kim September 1, 2011 at 6:27 pm

When do you breathe Abby? And to think some people have told me to my face that moms who write from home really don’t do anything. If only I could carry this post around on a notecard and hand it over to these individuals, then they would see how hard it is to juggle it all and find time to breathe. I love how you wrote Work as a sentence all of its own, because the few minutes or hours you get to work is probably more like “steamroll at top speed with no breaks of mental focus” work 🙂

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Abby September 1, 2011 at 8:12 pm

Glad you can all relate! Today I had a big chunk of kid-free time to work, and when I looked up from the computer I realized 3 hrs had passed and I had totally forgotten to eat lunch. Guess I was in the zone!

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