I whole heartedly believe that a stay at home mom is like working 2 full time jobs! it's 24/7 with no true breaks. Juggling tasks is the only way to get through the day! Trying to juggle work and motherhood comes with a whole different set of challenges.
At the end of last year I started working full time again since having Will. I was fortunate that the role I was taking on had the opportunity to work from home some. I currently work from home 2 days a week. The other 3 Will is watched by dad, babysitter, and grandparents while I'm gone.
For those of you who don't know I am a practice manager at a veterinary hospital http://shawneehillsvet.com/eve/. I started as a receptionist in 2018 and took on various roles moving into more and more managerial positions. I stepped away when I had Will for several months and planned to go back very part time. The very week I was scheduled for my first shift postpartum Will was diagnosed as blind. We had his first neurology appointment on a Friday and the following Friday was supposed to be my first shift back. The next several months I worked a fraction of the shifts I had intended, constantly calling off for last minute emergency surgeries and appointments. I can't thank my work enough for helping me through that time. After one of the first surgeries I came home to a care packet filled with gift cards and flowers from all of my coworkers. Those are the things you don't ask for or expect, that make the biggest impact. As I was able to work more regular hours it seemed opportunities kept being presented to me to continue to advance, ultimately leading to me current role. Going to full time hours when I did was never something I planned on nor did I think I was capable of with Will. I am 10 months in and while I have yet to perfected the balancing act I have learned a lot of things.
Going into work and staying home to work both have very different challenges. When you go to work as a mom you still feel strong ties to home. You aren't there watching your child yet you feel responsible for everything going on. Now not only are you responsible for everything at work but everything at home as well. I am still learning how to be able to leave home and baby worries at home, so I can better focus on work. On that same note when working from home you are constantly plagued with thoughts of what's happening at work. Working from home sounds like the ideal but it comes with many challenges.
Mondays:
Mondays are dad's days to watch William. I usually wake up before anyone else, watch 15 minutes of the news with a cup of coffee and then out the door. I have to be at work a little before 8 am for morning team huddles. I get settled in and start with emails. I have 2 work emails, an internal messaging system with my team, and an internal messaging system with corporate partners. Checking all 4 communication avenues can take 1-2 hours to get everything followed up on. Somewhere in there I start getting text messages from dad; where did you put the sippy cup? What should I feed for breakfast? Did you feed the dogs? It has taken a lot of work but we are finally improving on less messages while I'm working. No matter where you are or what you are doing you are always MOM. Every other Monday is payroll so I get right into timesheets. Payroll takes the majority of the day and can become mind numbing. I try to take little breaks with other miscellaneous tasks like updating calendars, or sending client reminder postcards.
Our office cat has these one particular treats he loves that live on my desks He relentlessly asks for them all morning and will start to knock things off my desk if I don't give in. Once he's filled up on treats he settles in for a nap behind my computer, but only when I'm sitting at it working. If I walk away from the office for too long he tries to lead me back.
I stay most all day and start to pack up between 5-5:30 as the hospital closes at 5:30. I find I have to start preparing myself to leave before 5 otherwise I'll get caught up in something and find that time gets away from me, and then I start getting the when will you be home? Or what's for dinner? texts.
When I get home on Mondays I usually find Will and dad in some distress eager for me to jump in. Dad does a great job watching Will but let's face it dad isn't mom. When this routine of working more started Will would call for me throughout the day :(. The kitchen is always a mess on Mondays when I get home. McDonald happy meal is dad's go to lunch so there are wrappers around and usually a messy Will. By this time dad is dying for a break so I go right to work again cleaning Will, the house, and making dinner. First moment I get to relax is after Will's bedtime around 8 pm then I'm not far behind.
Tuesdays:
Tuesdays are Miss Maddison days! Will loves his sitter Maddison, we could not have found a better person to watch him. Tuesdays I can focus and get a lot done because beside the 1 or 2 cute photos I don't get any texts and I know he is 100% taken care of. They have their own special songs and games they play. A few weeks ago I heard Will singing a song I had never taught him, come to find out Maddison taught him!!!
Tuesdays are usually filled with several meetings. This is when I really get some of my bigger projects done as well. Researching new products, writing protocols, and going through everything that gets piled on my desk. Since Wednesday and Thursdays I work from home I try to get everything I'm needed in person for on Tuesdays. I always try to get to the bank with deposits this day too because it's the least busy banking day. This past Tuesday I had 4 virtual meetings; training call, rep call, recruiter introduction, and a webinar. in between those calls I worked on changing our radiology tracking system, and got quotes for getting more software access for program we use to manager the hospital schedule.
When I get home on Tuesdays it's usually between 5:30-6 and Will has already had dinner. Dad works late on Tuesdays so me and Will spend a little over an hour together before it's bedtime. Once Will is in bed I make dinner and sit down finally around 8:30.
Wednesdays & Thursdays:
These are my work from home days! I wake up between 7-7:30 and if Will isn't awake yet I get started with emails! I can usually get 1 of my work emails caught up before he wakes up. I feed him a quick breakfast of banana and oatmeal, then I set him up to play while I hit the laptop again. Playing toddler radio on my phone usually helps keep him entertained.
Once I've caught us on emails usually around 10 we start in on end of day reports. I go through each days total revenue and match it up to our credit card software reports and bank deposits There are often slight differences in the numbers I have spend time investigating and correct. As I do that I look at those days in our scheduling calendar to see what made us more profitable one day over another and try to track the trends. Once everything matches up I send it all to our accountant.
A large part of these days for me is updating employee information. Accounting for their continuing education hours, educating myself on benefits to answer their questions, correcting timeclock errors, and approving PTO requests. often I only get part of these tasks done in the morning before I have to stop and feed Will lunch. Our lunch usually consists of something quick like a PB&J with apple slices. Sometimes I respond to emails over Will's lunch too. As soon as lunch is over and Will is cleaned up he goes down for his nap.
Nap time is when I try to schedule and do any meetings that need to happen. Whether that's interviews, rep meetings, or corporate check in's. Will usually wakes up between2-3 and at that time I try to wrap up anything that has to be finished. I try to always have my phone handy between the hours of 4:30-6:30. The hospital closes at 5:30 so often times that's the time I get phone calls with questions. Sometimes the money doesn't match at the end of the or there is a client who needs something. Once 6:30 comes and goes that's when I really start to pull myself away from work for the day.
Often times there are things I couldn't quite get done during the day. Will doesn't understand the work from home concept, in his mind it's mama baby play day! With these on and off distractions all day I find myself with things left over. It's not unusual for me to turn the laptop on for an hour or two after Will's bed time. It's hard to focus on some things while he's up and running around. For example protocol writing, I have been rewriting our employee manual for a while now. This is something that is best saved for after bedtime!
Friday:
This is William's day with Grandma and Grandpa. They come to the house early in the morning, often before 7 so I can leave and get to work on time. Once Will wakes up they take him back to their house for the day.
I get to work between 7:15-7:45 to get the day started. Fridays morning I
try to catch up on anything that has accumulated on my desk over the course of the week. After spending the majority of Wednesday and Thursday at home there tends to be a lot of things I need to go around the hospital and check on/update. I try to go through my paper organizer that gets away from me and complete/file away everything that has accumulated. I am responsible for heading up the celebrations for staff birthdays and anniversaries, so on Fridays I make sure I have gifts and cards started for the next weeks celebrations. Our office cat usually misses having me around after some time away as well. Not because I'm his favorite but because I have his favorite treats sitting on the desk.
Most Fridays consist of at least 1 or more meetings for me. We have leadership meetings and staff meetings on back to back Fridays. I often spend the morning making sure I'm ready for them with a finalized agenda. One thing surrounding these meetings that tends to stress me out is ordering the food for everyone who attends. Picking something that everyone enjoys and fits dietary restrictions is always a lot to think about.
All day long I get texts of pictures and videos of Will having fun at grandma's house.
Fridays tend to be the day that gets away from me the fastest. Before I know it the day has come and gone. I often find myself staying later on Fridays just trying to finish up the last few task before the week. However one of the best parts of veterinary medicine is that the distractions come in the form of the cutest furry creatures!
This week I did not quite get all of my task done before the end of the day Friday :(. I will be spending part of my Sunday writing protocols and training guidelines. These are the pros and cons of being on salary. Making sure my staff has what the need come Monday is most important so I know my time working on Sunday will be well spent.
My company does an amazing job of supporting a work life balance for me and I am truly grateful. Never the less when you are a mom and a manager you constantly feel torn between the 2 roles. While I do my best, some weeks I can't help but feel one of me roles doesn't get me full attention. My heart goes out to all to all you working mamas giving it your all to your family and work everyday. I hope you know that you do an amazing job juggling all the responsibilities and you are not alone!
