A friend told me today that she was expecting and said I’d have to fill her in on how I manage the “work life balance”. At that very moment, I was closeted in my office downstairs while my not-yet-two twins were coloring on everything they could find with markers (their definition of “coloring book” is very, very loose)–then rinsing their hands in the toilet water. Emma, my 3 1/2 year old, was amusing herself by cutting up curtains with scissors. So does it count as balance if 3/4 of the family is engaged in destructive behavior??

But that was a passing moment and as we spent the day doing chores and clean up–just little things around the house–I thought back to some of MY favorite days growing up. My favorite days–no hesitation in this answer, and I get nostalgic just thinking back–were afternoons spent with my mom while she would sew on her sewing machine and I’d bake–just across the kitchen island. Or I’d work on some project in the family room while she puttered (again, usually sewing). It’s fall in my memories, and we always had the record player on–Broadway musicals or the “Mix” radio–and there is just a feeling of comfort and of peace that I associate with that time.

So I know I have to be careful, as I overprogram myself and keep too much going on, to keep days like today with no solid plans–thrown in the mix. I actually hauled out my own sewing machine and fixed curtains with Emma. We made some cookies and the babies got issued clean sponges to wipe down everything with (they are big time sponge fans). And, I just burned the cookies as I worked on this blog–typical!

But burned cookies or no, I think part of the key to MY balance is fitting in what I can where I can and making “cleaning” , “yard playing”, etc part of our activities. Hopefully my kids will one day look back and think of their favorite days spent with me, doing little things here or there.

Or they’ll think back and say “That lady made us clean up all the time with sponges! Why did we have to wash our marker-hands in the toilet? And she always burned the cookies”…

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