Mommeee

IT'S ROCKET SCIENCE, MY DEAR...

A friend asked me the other day how I make it as a working mom. She wanted to know how I manage to take care of a house, 2 kids, a husband, and a dog yet still manage to make it to work fully dressed, hair combed with a smile on my face. To be honest, I don't know.

If I had to sum it all up, it would be like this: margaritas, therapy, a sense of humor, a good book, nights out with friends, long hot showers, denial, a good cry in the car every week or so, chocolate, and this quotation: "The days are long but the years are short."

My house is cluttered, the dishes are always drying on the counter, my car needs vacuumed out, there's a load of laundry in the washer that needs to be moved to the dryer, and my sheets only get changed once a month.

I didn't plant spring bulbs in the fall, I didn't mail Christmas cards, I haven't opened my bank statements in months, didn't rake all the leaves before the snow fell, the kids don't get bathed every day, I neither floss nor moisturize daily. And the world has not fallen off of its axis.

It's all a matter of priorities. I would much rather spend my time with my family enjoying life rather than worrying that the floor didn't get vacuumed today (I know my mom is having a small heart attack as I type this).

A wise woman once told me in order to survive you need to take time to do things that make you feel healthy, happy, sane, and human. Lock yourself in the bathroom and read a novel for 10 minutes if you feel like it. Take a half hour in the shower, all by yourself. Tell your husband you're going out to run errands when he gets home from work and have a glass of wine with a girlfriend at 7 PM on a weeknight just because. Be a little selfish, because it will recharge your batteries and make you able to endure your children with more grace and humor.

It's these small things that make it possible.

As Emeril Lagasse says, "It's not rocket science."