Chicken Soup for the Working Mom's Soul by Jack Canfield

Author:Jack Canfield [Canfield, Jack; Hansen, Mark Victor; Aubery, Patty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken Soup for the Soul
Published: 2012-08-10T20:56:00+00:00

The Best of Both Worlds

I realized returning to the working world with four children, Bob, Demi, Kaila, and Drew, would be challenging. I had completed my teaching degree and felt prepared to start a new phase of my life. The house was organized, child care arranged, and meals premade in the freezer. I worked the week prior to the first day of school, and my children came with me to help me decorate my new classroom. What could possibly be difficult about being a working mom? If everything went according to plan, I could manage to have the best of both worlds. Life was good.

The first day of school arrived all too quickly. Everyone laid in restless anticipation the night before. Bob, in high school, wondered how tough his classes would be and if homework would once again cramp his social life. My fashion queens, Demi and Kaila, had fussed for many hours during the day over the dilemma of what to wear on the first day of school; now they laid awake wondering if they made the right choices. I lay worrying over all the minute details of teaching rambunctious middle school students, and more important, if my own children would be able to adjust to my working. After all, my children had been used to a stay-at-home mom for several years now; how would they manage? Drew, my preschooler, was the only heavy sleeper of the family. He snoozed, exhausted from a day of play—the bliss of being young and worry-free.

The alarm buzzed and the adventure began. Bob actually got out of bed on my second wake-up reminder. If my high schooler could move out of the comfort of his bed with plenty of time to catch the bus, it was a sign the day was going to go well. Backpacks and lunches for Demi and Kaila had been packed the night before. After only a few anxious moments about their fashion statements, they were ready for the before-school program. Drew enjoyed playing with friends at preschool, so he was always ready and set for another day of LEGOs, crayons, and playground fun.

My school day started earlier than the children’s, and with factoring in time for dropping Drew off at preschool, there would be about two hours the girls would be alone in the morning and then about a half hour in the afternoon. I had enrolled them in the before-school program, but had decided to let them gain some responsibility by staying home alone in the afternoon; Bob had an after-school job.

I experienced several moments of doubt as I said goodbye to each of my children, but it was too late to change the new voyage we were beginning. Demi and Kaila settled in with the other children, chatting and participating in activities. Demi is a “type-A worrier,” though, and was concerned about being late, so she watched the clock move toward the time the bell would ring signifying it was time to line up for the day.

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