The Best Laid Plans

I am new to working motherhood. I have only been trying to work part time for a couple of months now. There are days when I find it overwhelming trying to fit one more thing in, but mostly I have found it refreshing. It is refreshing for me to have an identity outside of mothering. My business ebs and flows so I've still had plenty of time with my girls, but just having something else to focus my attention on has been good for me. I think part of this is because my husband's time is fully taken up with work and graduate school. There are weeks when the girls don't see him for more the a few minutes. Have you guessed what this means? Yup, that means I have them on my own almost all the time from 7am to whenever I can get them into bed. I am absolutely in awe of single parents now. I don't know how I would manage the girls and a full time job all by myself. The only way I am surviving right now is by counting down the days until I have my husband back. Only 547 more days of grad school!

I wasn't ready to go back to work any earlier. I have loved being home with my girls. It has been a gift to be able to stay home with them.They are only 2 and 4 years old now and still seem very little to me so I am not ready to go back to work full time...plus I wouldn't actually make enough money to make that worth it.

For the most part seeing clients has been working out. I've been able to find childcare for the girls when I have clients, even when they have more then one sitter in a day. Our record so far is 3 babysitters in one day! Today however I've been thrown my first real curve ball. I'm sure there are many to come. My oldest girl, my Peanut, came into my bed and threw up all over me. Hey, at least she wasn't up all night long. So, I had a playdate scheduled this morning and was going to see clients this afternoon. No big deal about the playdate...we can go next week I'm sure. However, this is the first time I'm having to cancel clients. I feel terrible about it, but there's not much I can do. Even if I found someone to watch the Peanut while she's sick I work out of my home. And now it's a vomit house. Personally, I avoid those like the plague--even if it's my best friend's home. So I'm off now to make some hard phone calls. I'm sure they will understand, but I have such a hard time disappointing people. And my business is new and feels vulnerable or maybe that's me feeling vulnerable.

Are you a working mom? How do you handle juggling it all? What about when you get thrown a curve ball?

Heather also blogs at Massage for Women and Families and In Te Domine.