Welcome

I ran in to an old college friend yesterday. I had just dropped Child #1 off at preschool and was loading Child #2 into his carseat to head to tumbling class when I heard someone say "Hey! We went to college together!" I turned around and saw Beth - looking just like she did over a decade ago - pushing a stroller down the sidewalk. After initial hugs and "oh my gosh, you live in this neighborhood too?" comments, talk turned to Beth's 10-week-old son and the inevitable question: Is she going back to work? Beth is, in fact, preparing to return to work in just a couple of weeks. This in turn led to a much-too-rushed Q&A session on the sidewalk about part-time work, nanny contracts, the emotions of returning to work, and the logistics of pumping at the office. I felt like I could have talked for hours and could see the look of relief on Beth's face as she realized that she wasn't alone in what she was about to face. This also brought back a flood of memories from this time four years ago when I was in her shoes.



Why do each of us feel like we have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to balancing motherhood and work?



Over the past four-plus years, I have learned a lot about how to find my own balance between work and home. Some of this has been through trial and error, a lot has been through plain old luck, and a good bit of it has been through the advice and experience of veteran mothers (of my generation and previous generations). What I hope to offer here is a glimpse in to how we do it - that is, how we continually work to find - and more importanly, create - balance in our lives. I hope to have others contribute to this conversation, as I can only offer my perspective. Along the way I'll include some "how to" posts on nanny topics (how to find one, how to keep one, nanny contracts, nanny taxes), work issues (how to negotiate flex time, pumping on the job), and other resources that I have found helpful over the years. I'm not saying I have the answers, but if I can make the whole process at least a bit easier for someone else than this will be worth it.