Charlene Teglia

Today has been a perfect example so far of what it's like to be a working mom. Yes, I work from home. Yes my schedule is flexible (to a point). But it's still a challenge to balance everything.

This morning, during what would normally have been the big start of my working day, I was in a meeting at my kid's school going over her IEP evaluation and recommendations. Most of you regular readers know she's an autism spectrum child, and school hasn't been an easy adjustment.
we have pretty much the ideal situation right now in that her teacher, her principle, everbody involved in the special education services are fantastic people who are caring and knowledgeable. But still, the meeting was a big deal.

I thought about it last night before I went to bed, and this morning as I was organizing my day. I hoped it would go well. I visualized the best result I could imagine. It's a big relief to have it over with and to have the perfect outcome.

Now I have to shift gears back to fictional people and their problems. I think this starts by just acknowledging that sometimes things come up in kids' lives that impact work and knowing it'll happen means you can start coming up with strategies. I'll have to put in extra time tonight to make up for time I didn't spend writing this morning. I'll need to keep my playlist going when I'm not writing to help keep my head in the story world. If I had further steps to take for follow up after the meeting, writing them down and scheduling them would free up mental space for fiction. (Much better to schedule tasks then fret about them.)

There are no super moms.  But it is possible to balance writing and family by using scheduling and planning, whatever stragies help you shift gears and keep your mind on task, and being a writer when it's time to be a writer, a mom when it's time to be a mom.