What gets you through an especially manic day, busy mamas?
When you are at work, or away from your baby for whatever reason, do you compartmentalize? Or perhaps do you have set times that you think of the little one? Maybe your baby is always just thought away. How do you balance spending necessary energy on your non-baby duties - work, clubs, whatever - with keeping your kiddo close in your mind?
For me, it's a challenge. I tend to compartmentalize. Whatever I'm working on at the moment tends to be my single focus. So I'll go at a task at work hard core for whatever period of time - sometimes hours on end - and then suddenly stop and remember that I haven't thought about the baby in that time. And then I feel guilty. ACK!
So on this Manic Monday, I'm reminding myself that it's ok not to think of my kiddo 24/7. In fact, it's probably healthy. If I were thinking of her constantly, I'd not be giving my work it's fair due, or I'd never get anything else done.
But I'm also reminded that I need to start setting more realistic goals for what I want to accomplish when I'm not at work. After all...if work gets the lion's share of my attention during the day, kiddo needs, wants and deserves the lion's share of my attention when I'm at home. And my writing/housework/activities will still get done...but not to the exclusion of special times with my family!
Share your thoughts here about how you balance out your manic lives!
What's In a Smile?
in:
0 to Mom
,
Fabulous Friday
For today's Fabulous Friday post, I just couldn't resist gushing about Spoiled Baby's smile.
Funny Daddy pointed out the other day that while he can get her laughing pretty hard sometimes, she saves all of her best smiles for moi. And those smiles are what make being a Frazzled Mommy so darn worthwhile.
Sometimes, Spoiled Baby will be in her swing, playing with a toy or watching Disney while I'm working on something else. And suddenly, she'll just look up in my direction and get a big grin on her face. Oh, what a beautiful child.
Mommies, tell me about your kiddo's smiles. When do they turn them on? How do they make you feel? To what (goofy) lengths will you go to, to coax a grin?
Funny Daddy pointed out the other day that while he can get her laughing pretty hard sometimes, she saves all of her best smiles for moi. And those smiles are what make being a Frazzled Mommy so darn worthwhile.
Sometimes, Spoiled Baby will be in her swing, playing with a toy or watching Disney while I'm working on something else. And suddenly, she'll just look up in my direction and get a big grin on her face. Oh, what a beautiful child.
Mommies, tell me about your kiddo's smiles. When do they turn them on? How do they make you feel? To what (goofy) lengths will you go to, to coax a grin?
Fitting Everything In
in:
Babies
,
Freelancing
,
Time to Write
,
Work
Hi, everyone!
I've been struggling to carve time out of my schedule to actually get writing done post-baby. Not just fiction, which I've always struggled to find time for, but also the freelancing that used to add significantly to my household income.
So I thought I'd open up the blog to elicit reader responses - what do YOU do to schedule yourself time to write? What all do you balance writing against? Do you have any tips or tricks to get quality writing done?
Here's a look at what I'm trying to balance right now:
Here's what's fallen by the wayside:
Your turn, readers! What are you juggling right now? What are your magical tips for making it all fit together? What have you gotten away from doing but really miss??
I've been struggling to carve time out of my schedule to actually get writing done post-baby. Not just fiction, which I've always struggled to find time for, but also the freelancing that used to add significantly to my household income.
So I thought I'd open up the blog to elicit reader responses - what do YOU do to schedule yourself time to write? What all do you balance writing against? Do you have any tips or tricks to get quality writing done?
Here's a look at what I'm trying to balance right now:
- Baby - a full time job in and of itself, especially since the hubby works a shift opposite of mine, so when I'm home with baby, I'm home alone with baby.
- Working - full time, outside of the home, including occasional travel.
- Household schtuff - I'm bound and determined not to use having a baby as an excuse to have a messy home. It's way harder now, but I'm sticking with it as best I can.
- Toastmasters - I'm the club secretary this year, and am also competing in Table Topics and the International Speech Contest. Just won 1st place in my area for both and go on to the divisional competition at the end of March.
Here's what's fallen by the wayside:
- Freelance writing - I started back 10 days postpartum, which was a huge mistake. I pulled back after 4 weeks of trying to keep up with client contracts and in the last 4 months have only written sporadically at best.
- Fictional writing - The goal was to add 10k a month in 2009 to one of my WIPs - The Mommy Letters, which I started writing way back in November 2006. So far this year? Have added a grand total of 3k. Ick.
- Judging Speech and Debate - I just want to get the baby a little bit older before I start leaving her elsewhere - with friends or family - for a full day so I can take on a tournament. Plus, the Friday night portions go late and I just don't feel I should be away from her at bedtime yet. Was hoping to do a Saturday-only in February but it fell through. I'm afraid that the school districts I contract with are going to stop inviting me if I don't jump in again fairly soon, although I've told some that I probably won't start again until the '09/'10 school year.
- Pampered Chef - Haven't held a show in a year. A year! Promised clients a catalog show in late 2008 but was too overwhelmed with other stuff to get it off the ground. Mea culpa! Planning a "Hey, it's Spring!" show for later this month and hope I actually pull it off.
- Choir/Orchestra - I haven't been active in the choir or orchestra at my church in a looooong time now and to be honest, of all the things that have gone by the wayside, that's what distresses me most. But Wednesday night practices when the baby isn't yet old enough for the church-sponsored babysitter just ain't gonna happen, since hubby is, of course, at work.
- Leadership Development Training - I haven't taught for my volunteer organization in almost a year and a half - and I'll stop being "certified" to teach my courses at the two year mark if I haven't taught them in that time. ACK! Trying to figure this piece out.
Your turn, readers! What are you juggling right now? What are your magical tips for making it all fit together? What have you gotten away from doing but really miss??
Did You Miss Me?
in:
0 to Mom
Howdy, dear readers!
I've missed you all terribly, but once I decided that my work maternity leave needed to extend to my blogs, I was determined to stick it through.
So why did I go cold turkey on blogging for 3.5 months? That's easy. Because I needed and wanted to spend as much attention on baby girl as I could, both while I was still away from my full-time job on maternity leave, and also during the first few weeks that I learned to balance my new schedule once I returned to work.
And let me tell ya...it's been tough! The kiddo definitely keeps me on my toes. That...and she doesn't sleep. Seriously. Her limit is 3 hours. She slept for 5 hours once, about a month ago, and I actually woke her up because I was frightened that something was wrong...since she'd never slept so long before! She's doing absolutely wonderfully well. Growing like a weed! And, of course, is the most beautiful/smart/sweet/lovable child ever born.
Balancing work and baby is definitely a challenge. I am going to start referring to myself as a semi-single parent. The great news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that the baby doesn't have to go to daycare. The bad news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that when we're home with the baby, we're almost always home alone with the baby...as in, no back up if I'm trying to work on writing and the kiddo starts fussing...and keeps fussing for the rest of the night. And then during the one day a week that we're actually home together, I feel guilty wanting to work on writing...since it's our only day when the 3 of us have significant time together. So I'm still learning to balance. More on that later, over at 0 to Mom.
I read a ton of books while on maternity leave - about the only thing I could really accomplish during the kiddo's 10 minute naps. (No, I'm not kidding. During the day, her naps typically only last 10-20 minutes.) The book blog, unfortunately, is behind by 30 books right now. ACK! So, until I get up-to-date, mosey on over to Read and Release and check out my old reviews (there's a ton of them!) and I'll let you know when the new ones are up.
We've been asked about a million times so far when we'll be having more kids...and although the answer to that is "not yet," I will be continuing to writing about the TTC journey over at How to Have a Baby. Even after 3 months on hiatus, that blog has enormous search engine popularity for phrasing related to family planning and so I will be continuing to post both on my own experience as well as general factoid-ish articles. And speaking of family planning, please tell me that while I've been on hiatus, some stupid unemployed and unmarried woman didn't actually have in vitro and add 8 babies to her family that already had 6 kids. I guess I'll save that rant for another post.
On the "keeping my sanity" front, I have finally begun the process of truly dealing with my father's death. I simply couldn't begin dealing with it in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. And then once the baby was here and wasn't well...and when I got sick (learn all about my mastitis in a post later this week at HTHAB)...and then when my in-laws were here for 3 weeks...and then when I was down after having all 4 wisdom teeth out...and then when more family was here throughout Christmas...and then when I first went back to work...
Basically, I completely comparmentalized my life for about 6 months just to keep my head glued on. On an interesting note, one of the ways that I've chosen to deal with Dad's death is to make him the focus of the speech I've recently used to win club and area level competitions in Toastmasters. It's not a sob-story speech - don't worry, I don't do that. But it deals with the topic of sharing memories - learning more about your friends and family through their special memories, and sharing your own remembrances with others. I only briefly mention his Alzheimer's-related memory loss, but instead choose to honor him by sharing one of my favorite memories in the speech. I've submitted a volunteer profile to get more involved in the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association this year, as a part of their speaker's bureau as well as in helping to plan the DFW area's 6 memory walks later in 2009. I also successfully nominated the Alzheimer's Association to be the recipient of donations during one of 12 monthly dress-down days at my company. Miss you, Daddy.
And...that's the update in a nutshell from my world! I look forward to catching back up with all of you, my dear readers, over the next few weeks as I ramp back up on blogging both at Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as my other blogs! In addition...I'll be announcing two new blogs where you can check me out shortly! One is a cookbook blog that I'm working on with my husband and his aunt, and another is the long-awaited Obama blog! Stay tuned!
Tiffany
(simultaneously posted to 0toMom, Breakfast at Tiffany's and How to Have a Baby.)
I've missed you all terribly, but once I decided that my work maternity leave needed to extend to my blogs, I was determined to stick it through.
So why did I go cold turkey on blogging for 3.5 months? That's easy. Because I needed and wanted to spend as much attention on baby girl as I could, both while I was still away from my full-time job on maternity leave, and also during the first few weeks that I learned to balance my new schedule once I returned to work.
And let me tell ya...it's been tough! The kiddo definitely keeps me on my toes. That...and she doesn't sleep. Seriously. Her limit is 3 hours. She slept for 5 hours once, about a month ago, and I actually woke her up because I was frightened that something was wrong...since she'd never slept so long before! She's doing absolutely wonderfully well. Growing like a weed! And, of course, is the most beautiful/smart/sweet/lovable child ever born.
Balancing work and baby is definitely a challenge. I am going to start referring to myself as a semi-single parent. The great news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that the baby doesn't have to go to daycare. The bad news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that when we're home with the baby, we're almost always home alone with the baby...as in, no back up if I'm trying to work on writing and the kiddo starts fussing...and keeps fussing for the rest of the night. And then during the one day a week that we're actually home together, I feel guilty wanting to work on writing...since it's our only day when the 3 of us have significant time together. So I'm still learning to balance. More on that later, over at 0 to Mom.
I read a ton of books while on maternity leave - about the only thing I could really accomplish during the kiddo's 10 minute naps. (No, I'm not kidding. During the day, her naps typically only last 10-20 minutes.) The book blog, unfortunately, is behind by 30 books right now. ACK! So, until I get up-to-date, mosey on over to Read and Release and check out my old reviews (there's a ton of them!) and I'll let you know when the new ones are up.
We've been asked about a million times so far when we'll be having more kids...and although the answer to that is "not yet," I will be continuing to writing about the TTC journey over at How to Have a Baby. Even after 3 months on hiatus, that blog has enormous search engine popularity for phrasing related to family planning and so I will be continuing to post both on my own experience as well as general factoid-ish articles. And speaking of family planning, please tell me that while I've been on hiatus, some stupid unemployed and unmarried woman didn't actually have in vitro and add 8 babies to her family that already had 6 kids. I guess I'll save that rant for another post.
On the "keeping my sanity" front, I have finally begun the process of truly dealing with my father's death. I simply couldn't begin dealing with it in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. And then once the baby was here and wasn't well...and when I got sick (learn all about my mastitis in a post later this week at HTHAB)...and then when my in-laws were here for 3 weeks...and then when I was down after having all 4 wisdom teeth out...and then when more family was here throughout Christmas...and then when I first went back to work...
Basically, I completely comparmentalized my life for about 6 months just to keep my head glued on. On an interesting note, one of the ways that I've chosen to deal with Dad's death is to make him the focus of the speech I've recently used to win club and area level competitions in Toastmasters. It's not a sob-story speech - don't worry, I don't do that. But it deals with the topic of sharing memories - learning more about your friends and family through their special memories, and sharing your own remembrances with others. I only briefly mention his Alzheimer's-related memory loss, but instead choose to honor him by sharing one of my favorite memories in the speech. I've submitted a volunteer profile to get more involved in the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association this year, as a part of their speaker's bureau as well as in helping to plan the DFW area's 6 memory walks later in 2009. I also successfully nominated the Alzheimer's Association to be the recipient of donations during one of 12 monthly dress-down days at my company. Miss you, Daddy.
And...that's the update in a nutshell from my world! I look forward to catching back up with all of you, my dear readers, over the next few weeks as I ramp back up on blogging both at Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as my other blogs! In addition...I'll be announcing two new blogs where you can check me out shortly! One is a cookbook blog that I'm working on with my husband and his aunt, and another is the long-awaited Obama blog! Stay tuned!
Tiffany
(simultaneously posted to 0toMom, Breakfast at Tiffany's and How to Have a Baby.)
Have You Missed Me?
Howdy, dear readers!
I've missed you all terribly, but once I decided that my work maternity leave needed to extend to my blogs, I was determined to stick it through.
So why did I go cold turkey on blogging for 3.5 months? That's easy. Because I needed and wanted to spend as much attention on baby girl as I could, both while I was still away from my full-time job on maternity leave, and also during the first few weeks that I learned to balance my new schedule once I returned to work.
And let me tell ya...it's been tough! The kiddo definitely keeps me on my toes. That...and she doesn't sleep. Seriously. Her limit is 3 hours. She slept for 5 hours once, about a month ago, and I actually woke her up because I was frightened that something was wrong...since she'd never slept so long before! She's doing absolutely wonderfully well. Growing like a weed! And, of course, is the most beautiful/smart/sweet/lovable child ever born.
Balancing work and baby is definitely a challenge. I am going to start referring to myself as a semi-single parent. The great news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that the baby doesn't have to go to daycare. The bad news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that when we're home with the baby, we're almost always home alone with the baby...as in, no back up if I'm trying to work on writing and the kiddo starts fussing...and keeps fussing for the rest of the night. And then during the one day a week that we're actually home together, I feel guilty wanting to work on writing...since it's our only day when the 3 of us have significant time together. So I'm still learning to balance. More on that later, over at 0 to Mom.
I read a ton of books while on maternity leave - about the only thing I could really accomplish during the kiddo's 10 minute naps. (No, I'm not kidding. During the day, her naps typically only last 10-20 minutes.) The book blog, unfortunately, is behind by 30 books right now. ACK! So, until I get up-to-date, mosey on over to Read and Release and check out my old reviews (there's a ton of them!) and I'll let you know when the new ones are up.
We've been asked about a million times so far when we'll be having more kids...and although the answer to that is "not yet," I will be continuing to writing about the TTC journey over at How to Have a Baby. Even after 3 months on hiatus, that blog has enormous search engine popularity for phrasing related to family planning and so I will be continuing to post both on my own experience as well as general factoid-ish articles. And speaking of family planning, please tell me that while I've been on hiatus, some stupid unemployed and unmarried woman didn't actually have in vitro and add 8 babies to her family that already had 6 kids. I guess I'll save that rant for another post.
On the "keeping my sanity" front, I have finally begun the process of truly dealing with my father's death. I simply couldn't begin dealing with it in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. And then once the baby was here and wasn't well...and when I got sick (learn all about my mastitis in a post later this week at HTHAB)...and then when my in-laws were here for 3 weeks...and then when I was down after having all 4 wisdom teeth out...and then when more family was here throughout Christmas...and then when I first went back to work...
Basically, I completely comparmentalized my life for about 6 months just to keep my head glued on. On an interesting note, one of the ways that I've chosen to deal with Dad's death is to make him the focus of the speech I've recently used to win club and area level competitions in Toastmasters. It's not a sob-story speech - don't worry, I don't do that. But it deals with the topic of sharing memories - learning more about your friends and family through their special memories, and sharing your own remembrances with others. I only briefly mention his Alzheimer's-related memory loss, but instead choose to honor him by sharing one of my favorite memories in the speech. I've submitted a volunteer profile to get more involved in the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association this year, as a part of their speaker's bureau as well as in helping to plan the DFW area's 6 memory walks later in 2009. I also successfully nominated the Alzheimer's Association to be the recipient of donations during one of 12 monthly dress-down days at my company. Miss you, Daddy.
And...that's the update in a nutshell from my world! I look forward to catching back up with all of you, my dear readers, over the next few weeks as I ramp back up on blogging both at Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as my other blogs! In addition...I'll be announcing two new blogs where you can check me out shortly! One is a cookbook blog that I'm working on with my husband and his aunt, and another is the long-awaited Obama blog! Stay tuned!
Tiffany
(simultaneously posted to 0toMom, Breakfast at Tiffany's and How to Have a Baby.)
I've missed you all terribly, but once I decided that my work maternity leave needed to extend to my blogs, I was determined to stick it through.
So why did I go cold turkey on blogging for 3.5 months? That's easy. Because I needed and wanted to spend as much attention on baby girl as I could, both while I was still away from my full-time job on maternity leave, and also during the first few weeks that I learned to balance my new schedule once I returned to work.
And let me tell ya...it's been tough! The kiddo definitely keeps me on my toes. That...and she doesn't sleep. Seriously. Her limit is 3 hours. She slept for 5 hours once, about a month ago, and I actually woke her up because I was frightened that something was wrong...since she'd never slept so long before! She's doing absolutely wonderfully well. Growing like a weed! And, of course, is the most beautiful/smart/sweet/lovable child ever born.
Balancing work and baby is definitely a challenge. I am going to start referring to myself as a semi-single parent. The great news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that the baby doesn't have to go to daycare. The bad news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that when we're home with the baby, we're almost always home alone with the baby...as in, no back up if I'm trying to work on writing and the kiddo starts fussing...and keeps fussing for the rest of the night. And then during the one day a week that we're actually home together, I feel guilty wanting to work on writing...since it's our only day when the 3 of us have significant time together. So I'm still learning to balance. More on that later, over at 0 to Mom.
I read a ton of books while on maternity leave - about the only thing I could really accomplish during the kiddo's 10 minute naps. (No, I'm not kidding. During the day, her naps typically only last 10-20 minutes.) The book blog, unfortunately, is behind by 30 books right now. ACK! So, until I get up-to-date, mosey on over to Read and Release and check out my old reviews (there's a ton of them!) and I'll let you know when the new ones are up.
We've been asked about a million times so far when we'll be having more kids...and although the answer to that is "not yet," I will be continuing to writing about the TTC journey over at How to Have a Baby. Even after 3 months on hiatus, that blog has enormous search engine popularity for phrasing related to family planning and so I will be continuing to post both on my own experience as well as general factoid-ish articles. And speaking of family planning, please tell me that while I've been on hiatus, some stupid unemployed and unmarried woman didn't actually have in vitro and add 8 babies to her family that already had 6 kids. I guess I'll save that rant for another post.
On the "keeping my sanity" front, I have finally begun the process of truly dealing with my father's death. I simply couldn't begin dealing with it in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. And then once the baby was here and wasn't well...and when I got sick (learn all about my mastitis in a post later this week at HTHAB)...and then when my in-laws were here for 3 weeks...and then when I was down after having all 4 wisdom teeth out...and then when more family was here throughout Christmas...and then when I first went back to work...
Basically, I completely comparmentalized my life for about 6 months just to keep my head glued on. On an interesting note, one of the ways that I've chosen to deal with Dad's death is to make him the focus of the speech I've recently used to win club and area level competitions in Toastmasters. It's not a sob-story speech - don't worry, I don't do that. But it deals with the topic of sharing memories - learning more about your friends and family through their special memories, and sharing your own remembrances with others. I only briefly mention his Alzheimer's-related memory loss, but instead choose to honor him by sharing one of my favorite memories in the speech. I've submitted a volunteer profile to get more involved in the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association this year, as a part of their speaker's bureau as well as in helping to plan the DFW area's 6 memory walks later in 2009. I also successfully nominated the Alzheimer's Association to be the recipient of donations during one of 12 monthly dress-down days at my company. Miss you, Daddy.
And...that's the update in a nutshell from my world! I look forward to catching back up with all of you, my dear readers, over the next few weeks as I ramp back up on blogging both at Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as my other blogs! In addition...I'll be announcing two new blogs where you can check me out shortly! One is a cookbook blog that I'm working on with my husband and his aunt, and another is the long-awaited Obama blog! Stay tuned!
Tiffany
(simultaneously posted to 0toMom, Breakfast at Tiffany's and How to Have a Baby.)
