My life is very full right now. My life is my kids- a three year old girl and a one year old girl. We have great fun together and I cherish every day. If I forgot to cherish it during the day, I think about our day together at night before bed and remember how lucky I am. If I'm away from them too much, I go to bed very sad.
The main competition for time with my kids is my work. I work 30 hours/week for an environmental nonprofit and I love my job. I can't imagine doing anything else. I work from home in the evenings, weekends, naptimes, mealtimes, any time my phone rings, anytime the kids will let me or someone else will watch the kids for me. I go in to work 2 days each week (leaving the kids with their Grandma, which everyone involved seems to love). Some weeks I have to work more than 30 hours and there have been periods when it seemed like I had to make up my own projects just to have enough work to add up to 30 hours each week. Overall, I love what I do, am grateful for the flexible schedule, and feel blessed that I can still get work done while I'm with my kids (and also have time each day when I'm solely with them and ignore my phone). But it is stressful to coordinate my time so that I get all my work done plus everything else.
Everything else? Mostly my life is my kids. Then there's time for work. Then there's my time as a volunteer- with MOMS Club, Chesapeake Children's Museum, and any random thing that I'm doing at the moment. I try to squeeze in time with my husband but sometimes it goes like this- "let's plan our weekend getaway where I'm with the kids most of the time and you're at a law conference and we're hanging out with friends". We have a shared experience, but it's not the same thing as time together. And last night when we made that plan, he said "I'll plan it with your right now if you want, but can you do two things at once?" because I was reading something online on my laptop while sewing a new button on his shorts while talking to him. I laughed and said "yes, I can do two things, but let me close my laptop so I'm not doing three things." He appreciated that I made time for the discussion, in my own way!
Of course, after that comes making time for household chores, coordinating future plans, time with friends, time with extended family, and household cleaning and maintenace. Probably in that order. Lastly, comes time for me. Some days I get it, some days I don't. Then there's the whole yoga thing, but that's another story.
So basically, if my husband runs for office, how is that going to impact all this? I know I'll have to be involved somehow, but how? I might end up a housewife and a stay at home mom so that he can concentrate on his campaign and his office (when he wins). What more will I have to do? What extra responsibilities can I take on? What's going to give to make room for this? I'm a political person and an activist. But I don't think I'll have time to participate because I'll be too busy doing everything else! I guess I'll be... Political by Proxy (or Campaigning from the Kitchen). (-titular line!)
Hey Jessica! I'm so glad you're doing this. And I wanted to say how much of what you've said already here resonates with me, even though the particulars of our lives are different. I never would've guessed a few years ago that what I'd love most is being home here at the farm, or that I'd be planning a life where I might not work outside our home and where we might even home-school ... but that's part of the gorgeousness of it all, isn't it? That we can't guess when we're 20 or 25 what is actually going to bring us the most joy.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to keep reading!
Jess - I've always thought that you've led by example your entire life. You demand and expect certain things from yourself - which ends up inspiring everyone around you to step up their game. I'm sure that when Jere wins you'll do the same thing - lead by example. After all - you've got to (at least) show those jerk, stuck-up delegate wives (and husbands) what's what! THEN you can spend time explaining to Jillian why her daddy ISN'T a corrupt political pawn like all of the other fat cats in office.
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