“Mommy’s going to work all day tomorrow,” I told my son.
“To work with your student?”
Usually I leave for work only in the evenings, to tutor. When the sitter is here on Wednesday mornings, I say I’m working in the basement, usually for my “meeting” (new chapter of Holistic Moms Network). But tomorrow I’m headed to a writing conference for the day, and it’s a Saturday when the boy will be home with his dad.
For a stay-at-home-mom who occasionally mingles with some working-at-home moms but can’t live that reality before three-day preschool hits, this is a big deal. Getting stocked with business cards (one for these blogs, one for my nascent editing, writing, tutoring business), putting pens in my laptop bag… ah, the semblance of professionalism!
I’ve been to two other day-long events since becoming a mom: the Weston A. Price Foundation annual conference to learn more about nutrition and BlogHer DC ’08. Both times I got sitters and both times were wonderful breaks that reminded me who all I am.
Compared to working moms who leave the home every day dressed way better than I will be tomorrow, this must all sound silly. Part of me wishes I’d left teaching back in 2004 (when I was ready to be done) so that I could have established some writing and editing roots instead of had a sixth year with tenth-graders. But with a thyroid disorder and uncertain fertility, it would not have been wise to ditch the stable job, even if I knew it left me less than stable upstairs.
I admire the working-at-home moms I know who already understood what it meant to work for themselves before they had to figure out what it meant to be a mother. I really do not want to go back into an office and have to gear up every single day M-F, so I hope something can work out that I can at least pay for my son’s preschool tuition next year by seriously becoming a WAHM.
Now that we’re buying a house and my consultant husband is (as predicted, no huge surprises) between gigs right now and painting ceilings in preparation for putting our house on the market (yikes!), it’s becoming a little squeakier to ride the line between putting in the time now to build the career I want and not being responsible for my family in the way I spend my non-mommy time. A whole day of not cleaning the house to instead pursue this writing thing was a little hard sell to the hubby, who is already in bed and probably is lightly cursing me under his breath for not getting more sleep.
I haven’t made a lunch for myself yet, but I do have my Metro schedule (leave here by 8:10) and my cash, breath mints (really cough drops), lipstick and my Klean Kanteen ready to be filled. Maybe I’ll really walk on the wild side and break my spring detox to even eat a Lara Bar.
Very nice blog. I will return.