My Mornings

People keep asking me how I juggle 4 kids (With my husband, sometimes 5!), 2 jobs, and 'me time'. I think the main trick here is multitasking and prioritizing.

I work for an American company from 3:45-12:00 in the afternoon/night, which means I have my mornings free. In addition, 2 years ago, I somehow volunteered to cook for a small nearby yeshiva and deliver the lunch and supper to their apartment. The job is really not that difficult: lunches are relatively simple and chicken is usually not that much prep time, just cooking time. I figured that while I'm home in the mornings cooking anyway, I might as well put my time to good use and ask my American job if I can start working overtime for them in the mornings.

So now: my mornings consist of going to the grocery to get the lunch and supper ingredients. (I go daily because I like fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, dairy, etc. and it's not far.)Then I come home and prepare the lunch, and then I put in overtime at work until the kids come home at 1:30. This time IS flexible. I can work an hour, 2 hours, no hours, etc. I do what I feel I can do. My schedule may not always reflect it, but I'm a firm believer in 'me time', or 'down time', even if it's a nice relaxing shower or bath with a magazine. Even if it's 15 minutes in bed with a good book. Even if it's half an hour in a cafe with an iced coffee, to each their own guilty pleasure. Even a manicure or massage. It's important to always know that YOU, and YOUR well-being come first. Women can easily become shmattahs these days with our lives being juggling acts, but keep your priorities straight. I'm guilty of forgetting this myself, but a happy and calm mother change the whole atmosphere of the house!

At 1:30, I drop off the lunch at the yeshiva and pick up the kids/meet the kids bus.

I like to keep my posts (relatively) short since I know that we women are always running somewhere and doing something so I'll split my schedule into 2 posts. The next post will deal with working afternoon while making 3 different suppers. I'm getting tired just thinking about it! (And hungry!)