I have a renewed and deepened respect for the working mom. I hesitate to use the phrase, “profound respect,” because it sounds trite and patronizing, but that’s pretty close to how I feel. At the very, least I have a sense of awe for moms who somehow raise their children and earn a living wage, especially those of you freelancers and bloggers who work from home.
I’m no stranger to work, you know, the kind where they actually pay you. In fact, every summer I trade my sweats for an apron and sling seafood and drinks four nights a week. But that is an eight-week gig which makes it more of a change of pace than anything else. What’s more, when I work, my teacher husband is off and he gets to be Mr. Mom and make French toast for dinner four nights a week.
All this to say, I was wholly unprepared for the recent full-time editing project I took on. If being a working mom is a juggle, being a mom working at home, while her kids are on spring break and she and hubby are remodeling their house, is like a juggle on roller skates, with a blind-fold.
When my friend Amy offered me the four-day job, I jumped at the chance to earn a few bucks and get my foot in the door of an online news organization with lots of future opportunities. What you should know about me, right at the outset, is I really pride myself in leaping before I look. I’m really, really good at taking on a new adventure without any thought to how insane it might be. It’s a gift that has propelled me to rock climb in Joshua Tree National Park with a guide I found in the back of Outside Magazine, and a curse that has landed me in foreign countries with not enough cash for cab fare. [Read more...]
