Are you a working mother?

Do I feel guilty that I work ? ABSOLUETLY! but you know what? whilst of course there are moments I miss that can never be captured again their are ways to make it work. For a start I'm earning a salary, a salary that will go towards giving my kids a more comfortable life and a better future. Somewhere in that sentence you get the sense that there is no choice, that if one were married to an extremely wealthy man that there would be no need to work. I have two comments to make on that. (1) I know some mothers who don't work and spend even less time with their children than I do (2) there are plenty of mothers who whilst they don't have a salaried job or a high salary job due to the success of their business, run businesses, do charity work etc.. It all comes down to staying ahead of the game and staying stimulated and fullfilled in yourself too.

So how to find the balance

1) I never EVER miss a FIRST (1st ballet class, 1st dentist appointment). I will diarise it into my work diary and I will go to it as if it were a meeting just as important as a work meeting

2) I never leave home before the kids are both awake, I make sure it's me that says goodmorning and gets their day started

3) I have a 3 day a week target where I MUST be home before the go to bed, to read bed time stories, to tuck them in or to just kiss them goodnight and you know what if I get home in time for bath time then HURRAY it's an added bonus.

4) Weekend are ONLY about the kids. Yes it means than anything and I mean ANYTHING that I would want to do on a weekend is out the window, but I don't even think twice about that. Saturday and Sunday are my days to be with my children !!!! It's a no brainer.

Some tough rules to stick by and no it doens't get rid of my guilt but it goes some way in making me feel a bit better. I like to think of myself as very hands on, I may not be home from 7.30am through to 6.30pm Mon to Fri BUT, I micro manage my nannies to such an extent down to the last pee they kids eat for lunch to get as close as possible to me being home and me being the one to make the decisions.

The million dollar question: will I always be a working mother?

I MOST CERTAINLY HOPE NOT :-)