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Of all the schedules I have heard about, I truly think the most stressful are those of women who have the dual careers of "professional outside the home" and "professional mom" at home.
Notice that I haven't used the popular term "working mom." All mothers work.
Consider the words of Amy Grant from her song "Hats!"
"One day I'm a lover, one day I'm a mother. What am I supposed to do? Working for a livin,' all because I'm driven, to be the very best for you."
She seems to have captured some of the angst and pressure of the typical dual-career woman.
What a schedule!
Follow along with me as I describe the typical daily schedule of one dual-career mom.
• 5:30 a.m. Alarm goes off. Get up and get ready for work. • 6 a.m. Make kids' lunches and fix breakfasts.
• 6:30 a.m. Wake up kids, make sure they get bathed, dressed, fed and ready for school. Make sure oldest is at bus stop by 6:45 a.m.
• 7:15 a.m. Leave house, drop one kid off at school and the youngest at day care. Listen to the day-care worker tell about problem with your child yesterday.
• 8 a.m. Arrive at work.
• Noon. Do errands on lunch hour.
• 3 p.m. Leave work to take one child to doctor's appointment.
• 4 p.m. Return to work.
• 4:15 p.m. Take call from oldest child who just got home and is checking in. Work until 6 p.m. to make up for time off in afternoon.
• 6:15 p.m. Pick up kids at day care.
• 6:45 p.m. Arrive home, fix dinner, give baths, help with homework, get ready for the next day, get kids in bed.
• 9:30 p.m. Time for self and to be with husband.
• 9:45 p.m. Fall asleep. Next morning get up and do it all over again.
Whew! It wears me out just to think about that schedule. In my conversations with dual-career women, several themes have emerged. Let's take a look at what is most stressful followed by some suggested solutions.
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