November Thoughts: The Seesaw

Diving deep for November thoughts this month. Truthfully, this one was hard to write. 

Recently on Instagram when DMing with two fellow amazing momprenuer friends, I have had different yet similar conversations about balance. Mostly balance as a working mother and more importantly how the balance can shift. When chatting with Elise Gallagher, of Ringlet, we discussed how stability is hard and like a seesaw, life can shift and when one side is up, the other is down. Two parts of life cannot be up at the same time.

This is a truth that is VERY hard for me to accept. It's a truth that I think most mom's struggle with.

Patrick and I have a conversation often about how things don't always have to be perfect, and especially don't have to be perfect in that moment. Sometimes, it's ok to embrace the mess and the chaos.

Especially during busy season, it is hard for me to not have the house be clean, laundry done, work in balance and progressing, all while raising humans and trying to find time for self care. If work is busy and great, the house cannot also be clean. If the kids are fed and clothed, their nails aren't also cut or clean.

It's the push and pull, the seesaw. If one is up, by nature the other must be down.

The day to day can be rollercoaster, the seesaw can be exhausting and trying to keep up with it all some days can feel impossible. From time to time I find myself down rabbit hole on IG and looking at other mom's and their life and wondering how they balance it all. A dangerous game, I know, but it goes there.

The thing is, what snaps me out of it, is my kiddos. Focusing on them, and knowing that they won't remember the mess, they won't remember the laundry piled up, or the work stress I had going on. So as part of the conversation on IG my fellow mompreneur, Casey Taylor, said in our DM conversation, cling to the joy. Cling to the tiny moments. It's what makes the down side of the seesaw worth it.

When your four year old says "Mom, you just have to try your best," things just click.

I know that this feeling, the seesaw, it can happen to anyone. But I think that for working mothers, this ride has gotten more and more intense in recent years. It's one that is hard to navigate, and one that I personally struggle with.

Keep teetering my friends!

Cheers,

E