A Scrambled Work-Life Balance + Reminder to Be Free

You may have noticed less posts than usual here this month, and that's because my work-life balance has been majorly scrambled. January is always slower for work, which is honestly a blessing after the 60 hours a week I put in during the holiday season. But this month, my husband, who most of you know works for a band, has also been on tour for the last two weeks straight. In total, Robbie is gone about half the year, but he always come home once a week for two to three days, during which I work full time while he cares for our kids. When he is on the road, I have child care a couple of days a week to work, but the rest of the time it's me being a (temporary) single parent, and I'm admittedly usually on the border of losing it by the time he arrives home. As much as I adore my kids, I'm  more than ready to hand them off when he walks in the door. It can be a bit much for both of us at times, but over the years, we've created a routine that works well for both of our jobs and our roles as parents. But having him gone for two weeks (the longest in a row he's been gone since before we had kids) and trying to work full time, get the kids to school and activities multiple times a day, get them fed and bathed and dressed, and taking care of stuff around the house, etc. without a break has been pretty freaking exhausting. I like to post here at least three times a week, but this month I just had to take a step back.

I will say that in the past, I probably would have stayed up until 2 AM to work, gotten four hours of sleep tops, and then pushed myself to run on fumes to get through each day. This year one of my goals has been to go easier on myself, and allowing myself some time to just breathe or meditate or watch freaking Netflix for a half hour before I go to bed (which has been by midnight every night) has definitely helped me operate on just more than survival mode during this time.

Essley and I stopped at a local forest preserve the day before Robbie left (back when it felt like early spring at the beginning of the month; it is 100% winter now), and I snapped these photos with my phone. When things have felt like too much over the last couple of weeks, I look at them as a reminder of how easy it is to take a moment to just allow myself to be free, like Essley. I mean, this girl is truly on the most free spirits humans I've ever met. It's so easy to be inspired by that. It's also kind of amazing how our little ones, no matter how much they push us to the edge, can be teachers to we adults, isn't it?

Things will be back to normal here in February, both at home and here on Bubby and Bean. In the meantime, I'll just going to do what I can, and keep looking at the photos as a reminder on the best way to be. I also want to give a major shout out to actual single working parents and those who have their partners gone for truly long periods (like those in the military). This shit is hard, man, and you are amazing and inspiring and strong.

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