Blog friends, it has been several weeks since I last posted—and with good reason. Need a hint? It begins with a ‘J’ and ends with a ‘B.’
My J-O-B keeps me busier than I have been in 12 years. For the past decade, I paused my work life to become a stay-at-home mom. While that kept me busy, it allowed time for blogging and all the other social media fun out there (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest…). Now, when I come home from my job as a school paraprofessional, I have my three kids’ activities, dinner prep, and laundry to occupy the day’s remaining hours. When the kiddos head to bed, that’s exactly what I do, too. The blog will be there tomorrow or next week, I say while drifting away to dreamland.
Two months later on a cold, overcast Sunday afternoon, here is that new blog post. Thank you for your patience.
The reality is, Lipreading Mom is now a Lipreading-Working Mom. With that, I had to make some life changes. Here they are, the Three C’s that many a working mom knows too well.
Calendar Days Are Here to Stay
No longer do I fly by the seat of my pants with the day’s schedule. I had to buy a daily planner. This is huge because I have an organization phobia, the kind that resists the use of a watch, Microsoft Outlook planner, or calendar on a smart phone. My planner is paper because I’m old school and don’t even carry a smart phone. (Horrors!) The fridge also is adorned with a dry erase calendar that gets erased and marked on quite a bit. There’s even a listing of each night’s dinner menu so that I know what food to buy and prep the night before. Which leads to the next ‘C’…
Crockpot Becomes a New Best Friend
Let’s face it: I’d been a spontaneous cook for years—the kind that made up my own recipes and planned the night’s meal exactly 20 minutes before it was to be served. Now, I browse Pinterest slow cooker recipes in my spare time, and I know that frozen ground turkey needs to thaw overnight in the fridge in order to make it into the crockpot by 7:00am. Add a jar of sauce and trimmings to the meat, dump it all in the crockpot, and set its timer. By 4:00 when I return home, the kitchen smells like Cracker Barrel, and I have my New Best Friend to thank. And now for the third ‘C’…
Chop-Chop, Hair
With mere minutes to fuss with a hairdo in the morning before skipping out the door, Lipreading Mom opted for the easiest style known to working mom: a bob cut. Goodbye, thick and long locks that once flowed to my mid-back and looked snazzy in a ponytail. Hello, sensible style that dries quick and is pretty low-maintenance. Bye-bye, ponytail.
So that is what I have been up to for the past two months. If you have any tips that have worked for you in balancing a job with life, let me know in the Comments below. Lipreading Mom is still trying to figure out this whole Working Mom thing, you know.
Lipreading Mom 
Congratulations! I’m so happy for you. (But I did love the pony tail. 🙂 )
Thanks, David!
THANKS FOR THE BLOG POST TO CATCH US UP ON YOUR LIFE—- BLESSINGS TO YOU & YOUR FAMILY & MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!
Blessings to you, too, Sonda!
Thank you for the update. Sounds like you have your “c’s” in order. Love the haircut!
Thanks so much, Kathryn!
Would you be interested in doing a guest blog post after the first of the year?
Sure!
Shanna, I will get in touch with you in January and we can schedule a date. Thank you.
Hi and glad you are well. I don’t have any tips for you, with not being a Mum myself. But I can understand how busy you are now.
I am like you, I use paper to write down what I am doing when and where. My diary for this is my faithful friend and although I do own an iPhone and iPad, I will never use that to schedule things. They ever fail, where would I be. But diary would always be there.
I am studying and using extra tactics given to me that help. One is now that I now use a white board, which not just for study, but home life too. I draw a spider-gram on it with to do stuff. Once done, I tick, so I know what is left to do.
Liz – These are excellent tips. I appreciate you sharing them with me.
Shanna, I can SO relate! After 20+ years of stay-at-home/homeschooling motherhood (with part-time work at my own discretion) to 45 hour a week job. As authors we have the added stress of getting the next book written besides. God is calling many of us back into the “marketplace” for a reason but I struggle with it. This morning there is freezing rain coming down so I’m anticipating a slippery and dangerous drive to work and I just want to stay home with my son and hubby (who works at home!) and enjoy the miserable weather with them.
Thanks for sharing. It helps the rest of us carry-on 🙂
Melody – My heart goes out to you. It does encourage me that you can relate to the busyness of being a working mom. Lots of hugs.
You are an amazing woman and I know that in time, everything will fall into a routine and you’ll surprise yourself with how efficient you are! One tip – pick one task and do it or pitch it. Don’t leave it till later!
Great suggestion. Thank you, Sandie!
The book The Power of Less is great!
Best Wishes
A
PS. I have mild hearing loss and low level tinnitus in one ear.
I wear Siemens hearing aids, and also have a Siemens Mini Tek (I love it!).