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I
realized the critical importance of the role of career
mom when I had my kids and had to work at home at
the same time. Not only are career moms assuming the
roles of being mom, they are also taking on the role
of being a woman, a wife, a daughter, a business owner
or an employee, etc. And we’re not even talking
about bring a driver to the kids, a cook to the family,
a teacher or tuition teacher every single day of the
year until the kids are capable of driving themselves
around. Most of the time, the career mom may have
to assume the role of psychiatrist and counselor as
well!
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Now, I don’t know about you but
I think this whole thing about multi-tasking and multiple
role-playing is pretty hard to stomach.
That’s why it’s essential to the emotional
and physical health of the career woman to take care of
herself and remain in tip-top condition health-wise, emotionally,
physically and mentally. As soon as we, career moms, crumble,
the people around us who are dependent on us (although husbands
may refuse to admit their dependency on us) will crumble
along with us!
Career moms work, on average, 51/2 days a week and that
turns out to be around 44 hours a week. And when they return
home, it’s not the end. There’s no time to sit
around, lounge around in the bath or put on a facial mask
or anything like that because the kids need to be fed, the
clothes need to be ironed, the floor needs sweeping and
the garbage needs to be taken out! Career moms don’t
normally get overtime, if they are earning above average
salary and yet they don’t get paid anything for working
on the family. It seems that career moms have to spend right
about 25 hours every single week on household responsibilities
while their male counterparts get off work and STAY off
work.
Balancing a career and a family is never an easy thing
– no one in his or her right mind will tell you that
it’s a walk in the park. The process of trying to
balance the importance of a career and the significance
of the family in her life is never ending. However, with
some form of plan that can help the career mom organize
and plan the days of her week, a career mom might be able
to find some time to spend on herself!
A career mom, Kimberly, once told me that she made a pact
with her husband, Geoffrey, that he is not to watch television
on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays because those are the
days that Geoffrey is expected to help deal with the kids.
Kimberly further told her husband that she will go the gym
or attend to her personal needs every Thursday and Sunday,
hence, Geoffrey will have to take over from this career
mom, family-wise. Although we have to admit that not every
man is like Geoffrey and most of them will give you a good
fight for his right to watch and channel-surf the TV every
single night, some of them will give in to this creative
approach that the career mom can come up with.
The
best thing that a career mom can do for herself and her
family is to set up a communication ‘center’
in the home, for e.g., the fridge, notice boards, cupboards,
closets, etc. Once the career mom gets the rest of the family
to cooperate with her on using the communication center,
career mom will find more time for herself without compromising
the functionality of her family and her work.
About
the Author
Marsha
Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who
works from home. She designs apparel and premium items at
http://www.allmomstuff.com
and is the author of "Raising little magicians",
and the popular "The Lance in freelancing". More
information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com.
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