“everything else…”

There are plenty of challenging things about being a mom, but one thing I struggle with on a regular basis is finding the right balance between spending time with my kids and “everything else”. And let’s be honest, there is a lot of “everything else”. Phone calls, tracking down babysitters, cleaning the house, cooking meals, checking email, groceries, laundry, school paperwork, and that doesn’t even touch anything related to work and in my case, keeping up with MomColoredGlasses.

I fondly remember the days where I had nap time all to myself. I would do dinner prep, get ready for teaching my classes, household chores, and for a while, I would wait to eat lunch when I could sit and eat in front of the television watching a show I wanted to watch. Imagine that! Now, those nap time hours are a thing of the past – Fiona naps, but Parker doesn’t – and I still can’t quite figure out the balance. I feel guilty if I spend all my time doing my “jobs” and I feel overwhelmed if I spend all my time with the kids, because everything else is just still sitting there.

I probably sound whiny, but here is the deal – you can say “the dishes will wait until tomorrow, your kids are more important” until you are blue in the face, but when tomorrow comes, the dishes are still there. Right? I love spending time with my kids, but if I don’t spend any time figuring out when Parker has show and tell…and what Bible verse Madi needs to learn…and make sure we have food in the house…and when the window guy can come…and whether I have money in my checking account, then things start to disintegrate into chaos.

Am I the only one that feels this way? Does anyone else struggle with the guilt of having to deal with “life” at the expense of letting those short days with the kiddos before they are in school full time slip away? Am I supposed to feel so conflicted…so frustrated? Why can’t I hack it?

Balance. Yeah, right.