The Curious Entity

So the Juggling Mother is a curious entity. Other people look on in from the outside and invariably shake there head whilst commenting "How do you fit it all in?" or the highly misguided "Gee you are a Superwoman" or my personal favourite "You need to slow down".

From the inside looking out, we're don't feel as if we are doing anything extraordinary - this is just life. We get up, sort the kids, manage the work, plan our days, our weeks and our months.... admittedly often to a degree of military precision that would put Alexander the Great to shame... But it is just every day life. 

So why do we do it? 

Well its no surprise to anyone that economies of life mean that more families have to have 2 incomes solely to meet the demands of life and achieve a reasonable quality of life but it's often more than that. Most women I speak to, myself included, want to work to achieve personal growth and satisfaction. I love my kids, I adore my kids, I would give the world for my kids - but if I stayed home every day - me personally - I would go stark raving crazy. My career allows me to explore and develop other areas of my personality and intelligence so that overall I am a happier person and yes... cliche as it is... a better mum. 

But what strikes me as most surprising is when an area of our life seems to be quietening down - you'd think we'd take the opportunity to move towards a generally easier life but it doesn't work that way. Without change, without challenge, without pressure there's a tendency to boredom, restlessness and we think and create new things for ourselves to do or learn or experience.... I see it in my female colleagues to work too. Hell I see it in my male colleagues at work! There seems to be this undeniable need to be busy, to never take the quiet route, we thrive on pushing ourselves and "having it all"...

And yes that often comes with compromises... a greater reliance on childcare than we'd like, not being able to go on every business trip, balancing commitments at work and at schools... At the end of the day there is only 24 hours and the lifestyle we chose means we have to prioritise, make choices and hope to God it all kind of works out.

And I have to say - in most cases it does...