Monday, July 02, 2007

True Confession of a WOHM

I got home from the ALA conference in DC last Wednesday afternoon and I have yet to fully unpack my suitcase -- only the essentials have been removed and a few other items. In fact, it is unlikely that it will be fully unpacked until this coming Wednesday when I have the day off for the 4th of July. This was really bugging me this morning as I like to feel organized and on top of everything.

In my defense, I got off the train last Wednesday at 2 pm and was in the library by 5 pm to work the closing shift. I also chose to spend Thursday and Friday evening having fun with my son instead of doing laundry. What happened during the weekend you ask? We had a huge BBQ bash on Sunday in honour of Canada Day, so I spent Saturday cleaning house and grocery shopping (and having Alex help me make patriotic cookies and the special bouquet pictured here). Hence the suitcase got ignored once again.

As I dug around in my suitcase this morning trying to find my favourite black sandals (they were on the bottom, of course) I felt really down on myself for having been home nearly 5 days and still having an almost untouched suitcase on the bedroom floor... not to mention a tote bag full of flair in the family room that still needs sorting and distributing. But then I remembered the look of joy on Alex's face as he played with his friends at the BBQ yesterday and I felt a bit better about my state of disorganization this morning.

I am often asked how I "do it all", a question that I am never certain how to answer. Some days I feel like I really can do it all and other days I feel like I am an imposter only pretending to really have it all together. Today is an imposter day, so I am posting this as insight in to the fact that I don't always manage to do it all and sometimes I have to choose between having clean clothes and enjoying time with family and friends.

Note: I edited the title after the caffeine kicked in. My original title of "Working Mom" is not meant to implicate that SAHMs don't work hard, as I know many SAHMs that work very hard. WOHM is much better term.

4 Comments:

At July 02, 2007 9:14 PM, Blogger Amy J. Kearns, MLIS said...

I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate your post and don't beat yourself up - you made the "quality" choice - just think of the memories you will have of the family and the party and your son - I doubt you would remember unpacking the suitcase for long!
;-)

 
At July 03, 2007 9:52 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for that. I've been struggling with staying on top lately myself and it's nice to commiserate.

 
At July 03, 2007 10:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hear you. Lately when people ask me "how I do it all?" I tell them "sometimes I don't".

 
At July 06, 2007 12:33 PM, Blogger Sophie Brookover said...

Amen to that. Sometimes, it's way more worth it to just read "Emily's Balloon" or do a Scrooge McDuck puzzle for the bazillionth time than to fold the laundry.

"Doing it All" is a fallacy, and I find I'm much happier now that I've decided to say No (in a kindly, considerate way) more frequently.

 

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