Every day this month, I will be featuring an interview with a working mom just like you. It’s called A Day in the Life of a Working Mom.
We’ll learn about what she does for work, her family life, and….her tips/tricks for getting everything done.
Today’s featured Working Mom is Lia!
Tell us about your family (married, significant other, children’s ages, etc.).
I am a happily married mother of two. I have been with my amazing husband for 14 years, married for ten of those years. We have a bright, funny, and energetic seven year old boy and a lively, lovely, and silly four year old girl.
Where do you live?
I live in Northern Virginia in the greater DC metro area.
What do you do for a living?
I work for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer/Diplomat.
How do you fit blogging into the mix (if it’s not your “day job”)?
I blog whenever I have a free moment and I have something on my mind that I want to get out and share. I usually blog in the evenings after the kids are down and things are set for the next day.
I wish I could be more consistent in terms of setting a regular publishing schedule and sticking to it, but between being a full-time mom and a hard-working professional, I just aim to get it in when I can fit it in.
What is your typical day like?
“Typical” is a tough way to characterize any day with active kids and two working professionals, but I would say on average it looks like this: We get up and get the kids out the door in time for the school bus, this is made easier by the fact that we normally set out their clothes and make their lunches the night before. Once we get the kids out the door, we head off to work.
I put in a full work day then head home and help get the kids settled or make dinner. Depending on the night, we take the kids to taekwondo, baseball practice, or cub scouts. A night we all look forward to is Friday night, these are our family games and pizza nights.
My husband is an amazing partner too because we take turns running the kids to their activities so that while one is chauffeuring, the other is going to the gym and getting a work out in.
What’s the best thing about being a working mom? What’s the hardest thing?
The best thing about being a working mom is that motherhood keeps me focused which makes me work smarter and more efficiently because I have a purpose and a reason to come home in the evenings.
The hardest thing is that sometimes I feel overwhelmed, like I am doing too much, and that I am burning the candle at both ends trying to be everything for everyone.
Do you experience guilt associated with being a working mom?
None whatsoever. I was a working person before I had children and the fact that I work doesn’t diminish my role in the home as a wife and mother.
Being a working mom in fact amplifies my commitment to home because I am acutely aware of what my absence means. So I do everything within my power to be meaningfully present on the home-front and to fulfill my most important life roles, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.
How do you handle day to day responsibilities (meals, laundry, cleaning, chauffeuring kids, Dr. appointments, school meetings, etc.)?
This is one area where I feel incredibly blessed because my husband and I are truly partners and work as a team to get it all done.
As I mentioned already, my husband and I take turns going to the gym while the other chauffeurs the kids. When things need to be done in terms of managing the household, we either take turns or do it together. If one of us cooks, the other cleans up. If the trash needs to be taken out the other one deals with the recyclables.
For school meetings, we usually make childcare arrangements because we like to go together.
For cleaning, we again try the team approach, one of us tackles cleaning the bathrooms while the other one takes the kitchen, vacuums, and dusts or a similar breakdown.
What are your top 3 – 5 tips for keeping everything together?
- Make time for yourself; including pampering yourself, exercising, spending time with friends, pursuing your hobbies, doing nothing and relaxing or napping.
- Make time for your spouse; go out on date-nights, talk to one another and not just about work or what needs to be done in terms of the daily routine but about what’s going on with each other, what’s happening in the world, the same things you talked about when you were still dating.
- Make time for your kids; play with them, interact with them, take them places, talk to them, get to know them and let them get to know you beyond how they know you as parent.
Guilty pleasures?
Blogging/writing, reading, watching movies, hanging out with friends, binge watching favorite tv shows, playing games, and traveling wherever possible whenever possible.
Is there anything else you’d like to add that you think would encourage other working moms?
Sometimes things have to give and that’s okay; some days you might not be able to get it all done and that’s okay too. Accept your limitations, stay focused on what matters, don’t sweat the small stuff, enjoy every minute of it (even the tougher minutes), andt don’t forget to prioritize yourself.
Where to find Lia online:
Lia World Traveler
What was helpful that you can apply to your work mom life?
Let me know in the comments below. If you have an extra moment, head over to give that working mom some love!
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If YOU would like to be featured, send an email to raki at outsidetheboxmom dot com. If all of the October spots have been filled, I will feature your interview in a continued series.
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