Work It

The last year has been an ever-humbling reminder that you can’t do it all. Or, you can’t do it all well. Attempting to scotch tape a social life together out of a handful of free hours makes for flimsy attachments and distracted parenting. Now that I have started working, I am again reminded that I’m only one person and there are a limited number of hours in each day.

I went to college, I have background in writing (hi, hello, welcome) and have written some freelance articles here and there, I worked a bit before I had kids, but with a huge gap in my resume and limited hours of availability, there isn’t much I can do. My kids don’t get on the bus until eight, and of course they don’t stay at school until after an office would close, so traditional office work is mostly out. Also, I am awful with technology. Abysmal. Nothing makes me more furious than tech I don’t understand. I’m not a violent person, but I would absolutely throw my computer on the driveway and smash it with a baseball bat if I didn’t take a breath walk away when something was misfiring on the screen.

I have found a job that marries my passions – minimalism and writing. I’m working with a company that does professional organizing, with the potential to edit and possibly create written content in the future. I kind of love it. I did a few hours of work from home garbage but I couldn’t stay awake sitting at my desk alone. I love that my new job is physical, even when it’s tiring. I’m excited to learn from the team that has transformed the homes of so many people in the Houston metro area, and nothing is too specific or tedious – it’s fascinating.

However, I only lasted two weeks before a kid got strep and I had to leave work to collect him from school. Despite my best efforts to seem reliable and dedicated, there was an emergency and I had to stop. Tis the season for contagious kids. Thankfully, everyone who works with me is a mom, and all of them were extremely kind and understanding, even though it was a very busy week. No one gave me side-eye, and everyone checked in on us and asked if we needed more time before returning to work. Imagine if I’d gotten some admin job and left halfway through my second week? The horror. Especially when I’d smashed all their computers because I don’t understand Outlook.

I am so thankful I work somewhere that puts family first. I just wish I could be fully present both for a job and for my kids. I want to be good at two things, but it seems I have to choose, just like all parents. The things I did for my kids while they were in school are now crowded into the hours we are all home together, which means I can’t spend an hour reading books with one kid while laundry piles up in the corner. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not working an eighty hour week – but the kids are already unhappy with me.

What do you mean you need to study? I forgot my school ID, why can’t you bring it to me? Why don’t you come to lunch in the cafeteria? Zoe’s mom comes all the time.

The kids will adjust, and I am home when they’re home, I’m just a little busier. And I don’t want them to worry that they are interrupting my work when they need me, as my son who got strep suggested this week. It’s just a new situation for these kids and for me to not have Mom available 24/7. Nobody gets strep on purpose, shit happens, and Mom will be there to pick you up. But I won’t be leaving work to bring them their water bottle or forgotten homework, so we’ve had to have a chat about those situations already.

My kids have been through a lot of change, and though this isn’t that major, in the scheme of things, it’s piled on top of an onslaught of other changes. On the bright side, my daughter has suggested I am now qualified to come to career day at school, so that made me feel great, even though I’m fairly sure she has no idea what I do every day. I’m learning a lot from the women I work with, both about the job and about balancing work and family, and they have been so patient with me as I learn the ropes.

Being a stay-at-home-mom is a job. Full time childcare with no backup and no break is absolutely a relentless career choice. Now that all my kids are in school and getting settled in their own routines, I am thankful for the opportunity to find something fulfilling to do each day. Every project is different because every client is different, and I am no longer nodding off while working from home, which is refreshing. There will be messes and clutter and projects that aren’t tended to right away, but I happen to be pretty organized (professionally organized, one might say) so we will find a new rhythm to get everything done in due time.

I have been holding back my best decluttering tip from my new colleagues because I don’t want to be ostracized, but for anyone who is trying to pare down and streamline, look at each item and think to yourself, “if this had shit on it, would I clean it off or throw it away?” And that is how you know what deserves a place in your home. You are welcome. I charge by the hour.