The rant of a working mom

The week has finally ended and for the first time in over three months, I don’t quite have much to say except “phew!”. As a working mom, this pandemic has been one of the most challenging and trying times, partly because my toddler has been going through sleep regressions but also because working from home has resulted in extremely long business hours. Actually, who am I kidding, working from home has meant being on call for eighteen hours a day! It does not matter if I am making dinner or bathing the baby, the phone just doesn’t stop ringing and emails keep coming. It might be because the ‘at home office’ set up allows for one to quickly log on and reply to a few emails, so I have been expected to do so at the most random of times.

On a positive note, it has been such a blessing to not be out of the house by 4:45am every morning, or to spend nearly an hour every day commuting to and from work, daycare and home. I am especially grateful for this because the sleep regressions seem to be hitting a little harder this time around. With my body surviving on four hours of sleep on average, I have found that my brain has not quite caught up to reality. Firstly, we are now in level two of lockdown and yet I missed the window to stock up on gin and champagne… I do not think I have even been out of the house during the legal hours that were banned just a week ago! Very soon, life will be back to normal and I will be missing these days spent at home with my cuddly teddy bear husband.

What has working from home looked like in the recent months?

• Meetings in pyjamas
• Evening showers
• Distorted meal times
• Laptops in bed
• Conference call ‘accidents’
• 30 hour days (praise the Lord for the longer days)

Sorry husband, I won’t gossip on the phone anymore while you are on a call and I will certainly not feed you again when you are on video conference with a client! Please tell me that I am not the only one who has made such silly mistakes…? Blame the mom brain!

The purpose of today’s short, raw and un-proofread post is really just to let any other working moms know that it is ok to be burn out, to need some alone time without the kids around. I recently read a tweet from another mom who was elated to get to spend the night in a hotel, away from her family as part of her birthday present. If you want that too, you are not alone. Also, what is this story about people learning to cook and bake bread during this pandemic? I have gotten very acquainted with heat and eat meals, pre-marinated meats, couscous and bread for all meals. If you have also been finding it difficult to spend an extra half hour cooking up a storm, don’t worry, many of us share the same theme song!

My husband shared this video with me just a few days ago in an attempt to make me laugh, ironically, it is the video that most resonates with me in this pandemic. If you are not a working mom, watch it for giggles, but if you are, let me know if there is any truth in this two minute video!

And lastly, to anyone who may feel that we working moms are complaining despite getting the best of both worlds, I will leave you with a quote from one of my previous posts that has been more relevant now than ever; “I will not apologise for being a tired working mom!“