Work And Home: How To Create A Balance

Time Is Money

"Sometimes you have to think outside the box," says Marilyn Duquesne*, from Helena, Montana. "For a long time I shopped wherever there were specials, but that's changed. Today I shop at the supermarket that's on the way home from work. Time is money, and not having to shop around for the best bargains is actually saving me time. That means more hours I can spend at work and more hours I can spend with the baby when I get home. For me, it's a savings."

Katy Feldscher* from Teaneck, New Jersey found she had to get creative in order to fit both baby and exercise into her busy schedule once her maternity leave was over. "I think in a former life I was a fish," she jokes. "I need to be in the water, to swim. Signing up with her baby Britney for Water Babies at the local YWCA was the best way for both of us to spend time together and at the same time, exercise. Besides, it was cheaper to have her with me than spend money on a babysitter, especially since I have a severe mistrust of babysitters to begin with."

For Angela Whiteman* of Skokie, Illinois, finding a way to have marital intimacy was an issue. "I'd be so tired and not really in the mood for marital relations after a full day of work and motherhood, but I knew my husband was needy for physical affection. I found that having a glass or two of wine did the trick for me. Never a third glass, though, because that's the one that puts me to sleep," says Angela, only partly in jest.

My Sitter Helped With The Pressure

Keeping the sitter on for an extra hour or so did the trick for the Marsden family from Auburn, Kentucky. Sheila Marsden* found it hard to make the transition from work to home at the end of a long day, but discovered that keeping the sitter a bit longer made all the difference. "I'd put a pot of water on to boil then put my feet up with the paper while the sitter would run a bath for the baby, take out the garbage, and in general, tidy up before she left for the day," says Sheila. "It took the pressure off me just knowing I could call on the sitter to do the scut work for just a bit longer."

These moms prove that work and home can be balanced with just a bit of creative imagination.


*Names have been changed.