The To Do List

I'm a working mom.  I want a career. I want my kids to be happy and healthy if perhaps slightly over-programmed.  I want to have friends and be part of a community.   I want to be healthy.  I want to occasionally get to hang out and talk to my husband. I want, as it turns out, a lot.

On my way into work this morning,  as I was plotting out my day with everything from a customer meeting and a presentation, to my son's baseball practice to the brisket I'm planning to make starting at 7:30 PM tonight , I giggled to myself that in the age of the lean in moms,  I think that I lean in (to my work, my career), lean out (to my kids) and a little bit to the left on most social and political items.

So - for my first post, a few thoughts.

The Compromises

The compromise I have made with myself is that I will make mistakes.  I will be late.  I will be disorganized.  I will get a B (maybe a B+) in all subjects.  No Ds but no As either. There will be typos in this blog.  I will run slower every year.  I will miss the signup for soccer and have to email the next day to  try and get my daughter in.  I will cobble together dinner but it will not be anything exciting. (frozen meatballs and pasta anyone?) I will have items on my ToDo list at work that will never bubble up from important to urgent and will linger for months.  I will have customer requests that are so compelling, but that can't be justified.  I will fail to notice which birthday parties don't want presents vs. which ones do.  I will nearly always have messy hair and unpolished fingernails.  I will do the best I can and that will be okay.  I'll keep saying that until I believe it!

The Worry of the Day

Yesterday, someone posted about asking if there are guns in the house before scheduling a playdate.  I felt almost shear terror because it had truly never occurred to me that anyone I knew would have a gun in their house.  (And for the Left leaning part of me) I truly find guns terrifying.  I had to quit riflery at summer camp because I found it so truly terrifying.  I tried to explain to my son why I don't want even play guns in my house.  Water guns are the one exception - no good reason.  And while I don't object to other people's right to have a gun,  I cannot imagine having a gun in your house.  Now - I live in a Boston suburb so maybe I'm right to think that this is not a pressing issue.  Maybe I'm naive.

The To-Do List

My schedule is not unique.  My challenges are not unique.  And all facets  -my work, my family, my community - feel important to me.  So largely for entertainment value - here's what's on deck today:

1. Get up and go running - Check! (Not very far, not very fast but hey - full credit)
2. Add the marinade to the Brisket for Saturday - Check! (Pan slightly to small - may have made a minor mess and the fridge smells like vinegar but okay)
3. Scrum call and software demo
4. Customer presentation
5. Post summer intern role
6. Pick up kids and get to baseball practice 
7. Figure out dinner
8. Cook the brisket (truly the riskiest activity today!)
9. Remove the humetz from the house for Passover (could do this tomorrow - or possibly Saturday - see compromises paragraph!)

Have a great day everyone! Thanks for reading my diatribe!