DianaKrallfans.com

This is an opinion thread that I decided to open, out of very personal reflections that Ive been having recently , and conected to the fact that Im a working woman, of almost 28; as well as linked to Diana 's wonderful motherhood experience, being herself a full time touring musician.
As most women my age, the pangs of motherhood are starting to kick in, for some others, maybe later. There's the famous biological clock, which we have to respect, if we want our children to be born healthy and without congenital problems. In my case I have always wanted a family, if the right man came along. ( Which I don't at the moment.lol, single since recently ) .However, working full time now , worrying about my career, gives me little time to find anyone suitable, and even less worry about future dirty diapers and jammed hands. In addition, the teaching jobs i have are not very mother friendly, lacking in day care facilities, not being there enough time for first mothers to spend quality time with their offsprings, etc. making it all quite unimaginable to bring a child to this world.
I decided to post this to ask working mothers in the forum, ( or anyone with a reasonable solution), how do you manage to balance family life and a full time job; and can both tasks be achieved efficiently? Do you spend money on help?
For DK, her case is one in a million, where she is free to take her kids along on her tours, or have her husband watch after them. ( which must be exhausting, but she must have a long line of helpers and sitters to assist her 100 %) . Her situation is quite ideal, as I see it. Yet, Im sure there are countless working women out there who don't feel their situation to be ideal in any way.
What do you think?

Hi Victoria,

although my daughter is now grown up (age 25) and my husband and I are now 'empty nesters', I wanted to let you know that it isn't easy being a working mom, but with a good support system it can be very rewarding. I took 3 months off when I had my daughter and then when I went back to work I had my parents and in-laws help with looking after her. My husband also was a huge help as he would and still does help around the house alot. I could not have done it without him! I was lucky and blessed I think to have family around and I did not use a day-care facility. I know many people do not have that luxury, but I truly believe that if you have family around to support you it is a big advantage. I will be honest and also tell you that I did turn down many opportunities for advancement because it would have taken me away from my family and I do not regret that the least ..... and wouldn't change a day. I hope this helps? Lastly, I want to say that being a parent is the most rewarding job anyone could have!

When I first started having kids, I decided to leave a full-time corporate job (a job I loved) because I was concerned about ongoing daycare issues, and I wanted to be able to nurse my babies and be there myself with my kids. Plus, you must weigh how much you're earning versus the cost of commuting to work, lunches, clothes, taxes, daycare, etc. Also, at that time, I was doing more freelance writing from home -- doing phone calls and interviews during the day, and staying up (very) late to write undisturbed or else writing when the babies were sleeping, and getting occasional help from grandparents to watch the kids if I needed to leave the house for interviews or meetings.

I've found that, no matter what women do as mothers, we'll probably feel guilty: working outside the home, you might want to be more available for your kids. Working inside the home (as I call it) you might feel you left your job behind or you might feel financial pressure to bring in more money. It's always a balancing act. Women in America don't get the same amount of guaranteed time off with their young kids as moms in some other countries, so that was also a big factor in my decision to leave my corporate job. And in America if your job is the one with health insurance (or better health insurance than your spouse) then you might feel pressured to go back to your job despite the age of your infants.

Thank you for your comments! I hope to be able to reach a balance like that in the future.. IN the meantime.. Let´s find a husband first !