Balancing Motherhood, Career, and Personal Ambition

How can I find harmony over the next ten years? These are the childbearing years, the breastfeeding years, the infant-in-diapers and toddler-learning-the-ABC's years. It's as if my life has suddenly been interrupted - joyfully interrupted - but interrupted nonetheless.

I wish there was a better way in our society to combine mothering and working. I would like to do more than just stay at home with the kids for the next few years. By saying "more", I am not implying that raising children is by any means simplistic, easy, boring, or uninspiring. On the contrary, it is arguably the most difficult, time-consuming, challenging, and rewarding career that there is.

I want to do "more" for my own development and growth as a person, my own sanity, my future prospects after the baby years.

But I want the "more" to include my children.

The great "how?" lingers over my head - how to get the best of both worlds. Work-at-home, work part-time, write, go to school - What's the best way to be a mother and a woman, a mother and a professional, a mother and...more?

Freedom in the Workplace

I recently read an interesting article on BusinessWeek Online about a new business trend in in 2007. The article highlighted Best Buy and outlined how they are "smashing the clock." Essentially, they are giving their employees flexibility when it comes to their daily schedules and routines. Employees have professional goals that need to be met and tasks that need to be completed - but they can do them on their own time. As long as their work is done, no one is watching the clock.

This philosophy creates company-loyalty and encourages a strong work ethic. Additionally, it's a very family-friendly way of doing things. I, for one, am a huge fan of this new movement.

In past jobs, I often lamented about the wasted hours of "desk time" - the lethargic, passive, yawning minutes ticked by without productivity. Not because I was lazy. But because I was bored. I could complete my job in half the time that was required. What a brilliant idea to reward employees for the result of their work, not simply for numbers on a punchcard! Let the revolution continue!