Nearly a year ago, I was inspired by a post by Oil and Garlic to write about my balance. So, where do we stand now?
1. What’s your work schedule?
I still drop Baguette off at 7 so I can be at work at (or around) 8, and I still work until 5 and am home a little after 6. All of this is likely to change on Friday, however, because the Rampture is coming–and that means all bets are off. I have no idea what my commute will be like for the next year, except that I know it won’t be good.
2. How do you handle childcare?
We still love Baguette’s day care. Mr. Sandwich’s parents come over to help around the house, but are less likely to babysit on weekend evenings; they have their own busy schedules, and it’s a lot harder to keep up with a toddler than it was to monitor an infant. However, one of her favorite teachers left the day care (not for reasons that concern us), and we’ve had her over for a get-reacquainted evening so that she can sit for us on occasion.
3. What do you find best about your current set-up?
It works, but just barely. Because of our jobs and commutes, we just don’t have enough time with her on workday evenings. We get home, go for a walk, eat dinner, give her a bath (while the other person fixes lunches for the next day), play a little, and go to bed. There just isn’t a lot of leeway in that schedule. But at least we have a routine.
4. What advice would you give to other moms about the juggle?
It doesn’t last forever–at least, not in this form. For a long time, I barely cooked at all. Now, I can manage to make a big batch of food in the slow cooker on Sundays, and that means lunches for several days that week. But being able to do that, which previously I could not, tells me that some day I will be able to cook meals with more than one dish.
5. Do you think the juggle is harder for women than for men?
Yes. There are no Daddy Wars, not even in the media.
Interesting how you revisited your balance. As you noted, it definitely does change as kids get older. Some have told me it gets harder in many ways with multiple school activities. My balance has changed in some ways too, especially with less cleaning or nanny help, but we’re plowing along. We still get some cleaning help which is a sanity saver!
I have not heard about the 405 closures but now must look into it as it could affect me (a little) on weekends…Good luck with your commute! A while ago, I managed to shave off 20 minutes on my drive in and that was such a relief!
They’re closing on- and off-ramps on Wilshire, so while the 405 itself will be open, the traffic patterns will definitely change as people use alternate exits.
I feel the same way…there isn’t much time during the weekdays with my kidlets. Always in a rush to get ready in the morning and just enough time for bath & books before bed. Weekends are spent making up for that.
And yet I have to run errands at some point!
Have you ever done a time tracking exercise? It might make you feel better about the amount of time you’re spending with your kids- at least it did in my case, because it turned out I was spending a lot more time than I credited with them.
We currently stagger schedules slightly- so my husband does drop off, and I do pick up. Our logistics are about to get a shake up, too, though, because our oldest is going to start kindergarten in the fall. So we’ll have two separate drop offs and pick ups. Luckily, the kindergarten is very close to home, and the day care is very close to work… so we’ll probably come up with something that works.
I haven’t done a time tracking exercise–how did you do it?
Our tentative plan is that I’ll go in much earlier, and he’ll do dropoff. Then I’ll come home and pick her up. But this only works in the summer, when his workload allows it. I’m not sure what we’ll do for the remaining nine months of this road project.