It is fantastic to teach your children to balance their work aka school and home responsibilities. People spend a lot of time trying to balance their professional and personal responsibilities. The idea is not new, even though hundreds of articles and thousands of words are written about it each year. Most people have heard the expression, “All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl.” However, comparatively very few of those articles and words are devoted to the balancing that must be done by children. Children have a great number of responsibilities:
- sports activities
- religious activities
It is truly remarkable all that we expect from our children each day. It is important that we teach them to balance their responsibilities. For example, a child cannot stay up all night playing video games or surfing the internet and function properly at school the next day. A child cannot do household chores and neglect to do homework and succeed in school. In all a child’s life, there are issues of time, place, balance and importance that must be considered. Just as adults cannot do it all, children cannot do it all. In fact, they should be encouraged to recognize that they must pick and choose their activities. Children can be taught this lesson when they are quite young and in an age appropriate manner:
- You want to go to the playground and watch Sesame Street. You can only do one, let’s pick.
- You want to take ballet lessons and piano lessons. They are both at the same time, let’s pick.
- You want to write for the school paper, play basketball and join the choir. There isn’t time. Let’s pick.
It is important for us to start teaching our children when they are young that they must make decisions. They must prioritize. They must learn to pick and choose so they can enjoy life instead of rushing through it going from one activity to the next. When we teach our children to make choices, to accept only what they can handle, we teach them to be better adults.
In conclusion, it is fantastic to teach your children to balance their work aka school and home responsibilities. So, the question for you this fantastic day is, how do you teach your children to balance their responsibility loads?
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.
It is terrific to go to work, have fun and learn some really great stuff that will help you in your real life. I recently had the opportunity to attend the Mohawk “License to Spill” event that occurred during the Italian Festival at the historic Italian Market in Philadelphia. The event was created to introduce the public to Mohawk’s SmartStrand stain resistant carpet, to tell the public about some good carpet cleaning tips. Mohawk sees itself as more than a provider of carpeting but a provider of a quality carpet product.
As you see from the disclosure at the top of this article, I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community and as a result, I get to go to a lot of places and try some really awesome products. The Mohawk “License to Spill” event was great for me for several reasons:
- I am currently making plans to redecorate my sanctuary/office space (also known as my enclosed front porch)
- I have fond memories of the Italian Market in Philadelphia and have not been there for many years
- I need new carpeting throughout my house
May 18, 2013 View of the Italian Festival at Philadelphia’s Italian Market
I was excited about getting to the event so I arrived at 9:15 am instead of the event start time of 10:00! Continue reading Mohawk “License to Spill” with SmartStrand Stain Resistant Carpet
It is fantastic to compliment a friend who seems to be able to balance her home and work life. Working women aka all women have seemingly hundreds of balls in the air at a time. Almost everyone has heard the expression, “A man works from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.” Experience tells me this expression has basis in reality. Women, whether they work outside the home, are work at home moms, or stay at home moms are all trying to balance their work responsibilities and their personal responsibilities to themselves. Make no mistake, running a home successfully requires many of the same skills as running a business:
- accounting: making the most of the income coming in and managing expenses
- legal: making sure all parties in the enterprise follow the rules of the game
- human resources: making sure the right person is assigned to each task
If a group of women from a variety of races, classes, and professions are gathered together to talk about how they balance their various roles there will be a variety of responses.
- balance is impossible, stop trying
- balance is hard but it can be done
- balance is easy what is the big deal
- balance is tricky, but with work you can come up with a plan that works
If you ignore the first three women, and look at the fourth woman, you will see a woman who is satisfied with her life. She is able to get done most of the things she sets out to do. She feels satisfied about her life. When you come across a woman like that, give her a compliment. Let her know that from your vantage point that she looks as if she is balancing things. Tell her that whatever she is doing she should keep up and that she should share her secret. Why? You should do it, because balance is not easy, in fact it is quite hard to do and to maintain. Sometimes even the woman who is getting it done will wonder how successful she really is at her balancing act. Give her a compliment, it will encourage her to keep going and give her spirit a boost. It is s kindness, give her the compliment.
Human beings are social and communal creatures who thrive on good words, kind words and recognition. A woman who is balancing things satisfactorily in her own life is not going to preach her method to you. She will recognize that how she does it works for her life and her family and is custom fit for her. She will advise you to work towards finding a method of your own. She will not ask you for compliments. However, if you give them to her, she will thank you. She will take your compliment, put it in a virtual pocket and pull it out days or weeks later when she starts to feel a little tired, off-balance or off her game. Give her the compliment because it is a building block she will need and use. Give her the compliment because compliments are good to give and good to receive.
In conclusion, it is fantastic to compliment a friend who is balancing home and work, give her a compliment about it. So, the question for you this fantastic day is do you have a friend to compliment for an amazing balancing act?
It is wonderful to take the lessons in a book and put them into practice in your life. Often people read books that have wonderful, life altering words and life changing lessons that they share with others. This is a good thing. What is an even better thing is when you read the lessons and learn to apply them in your own life.
Recently I was talking with a woman I respect and admire. She is smart, charming, resilient, kind and generous. We were talking about her plans for moving onward an upward in her professional life. I asked her a few questions which she was able to answer with ease. She knew what she wanted to do and the path to get there. I asked her ok, so start applying for some work, get it done. She did not reply as I expected with “You are right, I will go do some proposals now.” Instead she told me that she was not ready yet, she was not established enough in her career yet. I was a little surprised by her response because she is really good at what she does. In addition, she is always encouraging others to reach for the stars. She had previously suggested I read Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.”
There has been a lot of talk and controversy surrounding this book in the media and throughout the blogosphere. When my friend suggested I read the book I was game. I had heard things about it on television news reports and my interest was piqued. I downloaded the book onto my e-reader and started reading. I finished the book and decided I didn’t care what the critics had to say. I thought it was a good book and am recommending it to my friends and acquaintances. The book was interesting because Sandberg recognized that not all women want careers just as not all women want children and not all women want both. The main point I took from the book is that whatever it is you want to do and who ever it is you want to be, put your best efforts forward and be the best at it.
When my friend expressed reluctance at the thought of going for the big opportunities she knew she wanted, I asked her if she remembered in the book how Sandberg talked about women refusing to go for promotions because they weren’t perfectly ready for them or still had things to learn at their current positions while men would never do such thing. She did remember and after joking that she should not have told me about the book, she admitted I was right. It will be interesting over the next few weeks and months to see if she leans in and goes for the opportunities she wants to have. At the same time, after opening my big mouth, I am now obligated to go for a few of the opportunities I want in life.
Often it is fear of the unknown and comfort with the status quo that keeps us from reaching forward and leaning in at the table to grab opportunities that are right in front of us. The church girl in me is reminded that God has not given us a spirit of fear. Instead, He has given us a strong heart and a strong mind. Therefore, do not be afraid to go for the big opportunities, the dream jobs and the great family. Decide what it is in life that you want to accomplish and then get to work making it happen. As women who live, whether we are stay at home moms, work at home moms, work as cashiers at the local clothing chain, or run major corporations, we must all go for the bigger things we want and not be afraid or reluctant to stretch our wings.
In conclusion, it is wonderful to read a book, see an important lesson and put it into place in your life. So, the question for you this wonderful day is what lesson from a book are you going to read and then apply to your life?
It is fantastic to learn a secret of success and share it with others. Modern women do a lot! It doesn’t matter if you are a stay at home mom, a work at home mom, or a working outside the house mom, there are a lot of balls in the air. Most women are trying to balance all the balls while skating up hill in roller skates. However, there are some women, a precious few women, who are able to do the balancing act with style, grace and calm. These special women, these heroines have a few secrets that can help all women balance home, work and life.
The following are a few tips those who are successful at balancing use that can help you balance all you have to balance:
* Make a schedule that divides time between all your areas of responsibility
* Share your schedule with those at home and work
* Be sure the schedule includes your personal, professional and family obligations
* Do not accept new responsibilities, obligations or appointments without checking your schedule first
* Adjust the schedule as needed
* Stick to your schedule
It is important to acknowledge that balance does not happen without work. You must set boundaries that works for you. When preparing your new balanced schedule, it is important that you be realistic. There are only 24 hour in each day. No matter who you are, how important you are, or how significant your responsibilities may be, there are only 24 hours in each day. It may be helpful to look at making your schedule the way you would look at writing an essay. In other words, start with a rough draft where you sketch out in broad terms the hours that will be spent on work, at home, on personal matters and on family matters. Once you have the big picture planned on your calendar, fill in the details. For example, if you are a work at home mom with children who go to school and a spouse who works outside the home, you may find it is good idea to schedule your professional work first thing in the mornings on weekdays while the children are at school so that your professional work is done before the children and all their interruptions return. Household chores can be done later in the day. It would be better for the children to run around laughing and playing during laundry than conference calls for example.
The balancing ideas listed here are things that work well for me and for the mothers in my circle. Rest assured that the advice and ideas shared here are only one way of doing things. There are as many ways to balance life as their are people who want to balance life. In many ways, balancing life, work and home is like a magic act. To those looking in from the outside, it can seem like impossible trick. However, the woman doing the balancing knows where all the ropes, wires, support and mirrors are located. She understands that balance only happens when everyone on the team is in on the balancing act. The woman who is living in balance is happier, more fulfilled and is working more efficiently at home and at work. If there is a woman in your circle that seems o be balancing it all, congratulate her on looking like she has it all going on and ask her how she does it.
On a similar note, once you get a handle on balancing life, share it with those in your circle. Don’t keep the secret to yourself, share with someone else.
In conclusion, if you learn a secret to balancing home and work, share it! So, the question for you this fantastic day is, what life altering secret are you going to share with those in your circle?