All or Nothing

~ Laura

I think most parents would just like Superman to revolve around the earth at the end of every day, so that one full day could be spent at work and one full day with the kids. Since Superman is busy elsewhere, we’re left to figure out some less than perfect arrangment. Would you like to spend more time with your kids or more time at work?

Published by Laura

7 thoughts on “All or Nothing”

  1. I personally don’t have enough TIME to do it all. I would love more time to work and love more time with my family. I wish there were more hours in the day, it all seems to fly by so quickly before I can get to everything I want to get to.
    But it seems as if most of the time we are spending running errands, rushing to parties or activities, or doing the things “we are supposed to do” vs. “the things we want to do.”
    I want to eat right. I want to exercise. I want a clean house. I want to sleep fitfully. I want to read more. I want to see more movies. I want to spend more time relaxing. But since “time is a premium” around here, I’m usually rushing around trying to get work done before the kids get home and need to be chauffered somewhere.
    We always seem to be running out of time.

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  2. One full day at work and one full day with the kids still leaves no time for ourselves. Can superwoman give us 72 hours in each day? That would be about right.

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  3. As I stated on another comment- working is so much easier than being home. But being home is so much more fulfilling and rewarding. I like working p/t – I like keeping up my career while being a mom, but it’s hard to balance both, especially when you have employers who make it difficult to do so.
    As for time, yep there is never enough, for me at least. SOmehow my husband doesnt seem to struggle with the same issues – he works, plays with A. at night, and then manages to have some free time too. Maybe there are just lower expectations of men to do it all.

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  4. More time at work, please! I love my kids and my family, but the area where I’ve sacrificed the most over the past years has been in the creative part of my career. Writing, particularly, has been pushed aside. I somehow find enough time in every day for all my class preps, classes, gradings and the endless parade of meetings that make up academia, but research and writing have definitely suffered.
    Now I’m on a sabbatical term and I’m grabbing at my research as best as I can but I know that I’m out of the groove. It’s as much catching up as it is actually writing. So, for me, that Superman time would be spent reading and writing. That way I could enjoy my family time with a clean(er) conscience.

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  5. I’d probably have to say that I’d like more work time, but that may simply be because this summer I felt like I was finally beginning to work out balance between time spent at work and time spent at home which did justice to my kids, was fair to Melissa, and suited my professional responsibilities and ambitions well–and then they increased my teaching load with two weeks notice. Back to the drawing board there.
    The highest peaks of fulfillment I feel are probably work related, because they are tangible and specific. But those high peaks are few and far between. The bulk of everyday fulfillment I feel comes from my family. So I guess I’d like more time at work only if I could guarantee that time would be spent directed towards something immediately rewarding or important; if it’s just “more time to get make-work done,” then forget it: I’d take raking the leaves or making a late night snack with Melissa (or blogging!) any day.

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  6. I would give up all my time at work if I could, in order to be with my 11-month old son. To me, the work now is meaningless, save for the (until recently, sole) paycheck it brings in. Because of the high stress level it’s not easier than childrearing for me; at least in childrearing I’m one of the bosses, and I answer to him and me, people who matter. If I could, I’d quit my job tomorrow in order to have time for my son, and then for myself.

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  7. By rights I shouldn’t be commenting here since I don’t have kids, but even without them, I‘d like more time too! More time to get more work done so I don’t panic about not getting tenure, and more time not to have to work so I could actually, oh, I don’t know, develop hobbies beyond blogging…

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