Work-Life Balance

Early this year, after almost 15 years of running the rat race, and climbing up the corporate ladder, I jumped off the ladder altogether. My title changed from "Senior Manager" to "Home Manager" and eventually got promoted to "Stay-at-Home Mom".

Despite what it sounds like, staying at home does not equate to bumming around. There is always, always, something that needs to be done. The dishes, the meals, the laundry, the cleaning, the organizing, the washing... add to that the baby's bathing, feeding, changing, burping, cuddling & carrying. I realize that keeping house is just as busy and just as time-consuming as a regular 9-to-5 job.

A lot of mothering books tell you that it's easy to lose yourself in the routine of caring for a home and a child. They remind mothers to take time off for themselves, to be the women they were before this other calling took hold of them. To nurture themselves as much as they nurture their family.

In that sense, even SAHM's need work-life balance. Sure, the work is slightly different now, but the need for a life doesn't change.

It doesn't even have to come in the form of anything grand, like vacations, or causes or altruistic projects. Anything new and different can be refreshing.

In my case, it was just being able to try a new recipe.

With a 2-mo. old around, it's hard to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Prep work takes more time now as I do it in between looking after my son. (Dinner preps start as early as 3pm and can end as late as 6pm, with everything getting done in stages.) But thankfully, I have a mother who moonlights as Mary Poppins. After a 2-week hiatus in the Philippines, she heard my distress call and is back to spend (another) 2-months with us. By being able to share baby duties, I have a little more time to experiment with dinner.

After months of wanting to, I got to revisit my recipe/scrap book. By no means was I making a gourmet meal. But it  is certainly liberating to cook with the peace of mind of knowing my son wouldn't be neglected and dinner didn't have to take a whole day to make.

Presenting... Thai Chicken Bites. (Thank you Wenkgirl for the recipe.)

Step 1: dredge

Fully coated and ready for frying

The final product.

At this point, it's not even about the taste, just about the fact that I can.