January 2009 Archives

I clip coupons because it kills me to pay full price at the grocery. I shop the sales for the wee one's gear (ahem, scored adorable navy blazers for both boys (oh yeah -- we found out -- it's a boy!) for a mere $30 at Janie and Jack last week!). Even if I'm driving on fumes, I will take the risk of driving another 5 miles from my house for the cheapest gas.

It's not a time of extravagance and glitz. We all know that.

However, I am making a solid investment next month. I'm going away for the weekend with my husband.

Valentine's Day is not a big deal to me. I see it as one of the "Hallmark Holidays", created to encourage people to spend money on cards and flowers and candy. However, I do celebrate it and can totally remember my pre-marriage days of sweating out the actual verbiage on a card for a new beau ... not too mushy but nice enough ..... You get the drift.

Yes, you chose to go back to work, to be a "Working Mom". You take pride in the work that you do and you get a sense of satisfaction from a job well done. Chances are, no matter how much you love your job or enjoy going to work every day (okay, maybe not every day), you have had more of your fair share of "Mommy Guilt" as well.

It's hard enough to find the sought-after "work/life balance" that everyone seems to be talking about but once you add business travel into the mix, it becomes even harder for working moms.

What can you do to minimize the guilt while you're away to ensure that things at home will run as smoothly as possible for those "left behind"?

Over my holiday vacation, the wee one was sick so we ended up watching an Elmo's World Holiday DVD (too many times to count, to be honest) that featured lots of little ones talking about their holiday and what they liked the best about it. Almost every kid mentioned that their favorite part of the holidays was spending the time with their families.

Snuggled up with my son on the couch, it occurred to me that although my husband and I are lucky to have every weekend and week day evening with the wee one, many parents are not that fortunate. And even that time, is sometimes simply not enough.

It really made me think about how we spend our free time. What "stuff" can we put aside to do after the baby is in bed or when he's taking a nap? What extra things are eating up the time that we could be spending together? I sometimes find myself taking "just five minutes" here and there to check my email, my FaceBook account, the latest sales at Gap Maternity online -- that's time that I could be playing on the floor with my son, creating memories and showing him that I value our time together.