Can you believe it? I can't. I remember my parents remarking how fast the days, weeks and months went by when I was a kid. I also remember thinking they were loco...because to me the hours drug by. As almost all that your parents say that you don't believe holds true when you yourself are a parent, I find myself wondering how it can be the end of another year. Yes, I know that in theory there are two more months in 2009, but they will fly by in a whoosh I know.
Which is, of course, why I have added the last two months to the timeline that I had for myself to get this business up and running. I thought for sure I'd be out talking to mothers returning to work and clients hungry to find these incredible job-share people...but alas; I am not. I'm still pulling together the information I need for my business plan, still updating my resume (what the hell DID I do in 1998?), and still putting text together for my website. I know that I can get it all done by the end of the year, and be ready to hit the ground in 2010, but it asks of me a whole new battery of questions about moms and how they can do it all well. Mind you, I'm asking the questions without any of the answers. Does it really matter if I haven't done laundry in 2 weeks? Or that I sweep only when people come over to visit (my ONLY motivator to do any type of cleaning these days - shame is still a powerful tool!)? What does this delicate balance that we struggle with look like? I know for me, I've released alot of the expectation I felt from outside forces, let go of my need to control everything at all times, surrendered to the chaos that is my home, reveled in the joy from happy children's faces, transformed the idea of what a mother needs to look like today in home and at work. What about you?
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Work leading up to Halloween
My title this week is really more of a question than a statement of what I've been doing. Really - how do full-time working outside of the house mothers really do it? Seriously, I want to know!! How in the world do you do all the things you normally do and then add on either shopping for or making Halloween costumes, treats for school parties, Halloween plays, etc!! I feel completely overloaded...did I remember to get the green hair paint for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume? What about the tights the fairy needs to have? And really, does it make THAT much difference when it will all be covered with raincoats and boots?
Thank God I've subscribed to the vision of balance in work and home life, or else I'd be crying as I alter a Naruto costume at midnight tonight after having worked all day and gone to soccer practice and made dinner and worked on homework and tucked kids into bed and read a story. As it is, I'm off tomorrow and can do those things and still get to the performance on time with my treats. That should be what every mother who works outside of the home can say. I don't think many of them do - they are too stressed out, tired, overworked, under appreciated, guilty and pissed off.
I really hope that WMR can start to change that scenario. Job-share or work part time, have some time for yourself, give your family the attention it needs, nurture your own dreams. It's about time, isn't it?
Happy Halloween and remember those strong women that came before us on the Day of the Dead!
Thank God I've subscribed to the vision of balance in work and home life, or else I'd be crying as I alter a Naruto costume at midnight tonight after having worked all day and gone to soccer practice and made dinner and worked on homework and tucked kids into bed and read a story. As it is, I'm off tomorrow and can do those things and still get to the performance on time with my treats. That should be what every mother who works outside of the home can say. I don't think many of them do - they are too stressed out, tired, overworked, under appreciated, guilty and pissed off.
I really hope that WMR can start to change that scenario. Job-share or work part time, have some time for yourself, give your family the attention it needs, nurture your own dreams. It's about time, isn't it?
Happy Halloween and remember those strong women that came before us on the Day of the Dead!
Friday, October 23, 2009
It's been a good week!!
Yeah!!! I am finally starting to feel like I might be able to do this work thing!!
I had less time to work this week, and feel like I actually got alot done - bodes well for this idea that women can work faster and more productively when they are squeezed for time...(not like we aren't all doing that now anyway).
I have been able to register my business, put an ad in the paper, put a web-site space saver up (www.tinashattuck.com), start working on my website design with a talented and experienced designer (did I mention that SHE is my dear friend who is an AMAZING designer - www.allireid.com), and get my first JOB ORDER (thanks go out to another powerful woman friend)!! All in all, I'm feeling pretty cool...
Another friend of mine who has started and successfully sold numerous businesses was asking me about WMR - and I was telling him about all of my ideas. After thinking a minute, he asked me if I was starting a business or launching a CAUSE. Well, I've been doing some thinking about that, and have decided that I'd really like to do both. This idea that mothers can have the balanced life that we all crave should be a given, not a struggle. It makes me think that I need to do more than create a company where I support and live that myself, but rather create something that does more - that actually changes the way we ALL (mothers, women, men, the government, the US, the world) see the role of the the caretaker in our lives and workplace. So...yes, I am launching a CAUSE as well as a business!!! Do they have to be mutually exclusive? Some may tell me yes, but I say - HELL NO!!!
You say you want a revO-LUUU-tion - weellllll you know - we all want to change the world...
You say you a want a real so-LUUU-tion, weelllll you know, we all want to see the plan...
I had less time to work this week, and feel like I actually got alot done - bodes well for this idea that women can work faster and more productively when they are squeezed for time...(not like we aren't all doing that now anyway).
I have been able to register my business, put an ad in the paper, put a web-site space saver up (www.tinashattuck.com), start working on my website design with a talented and experienced designer (did I mention that SHE is my dear friend who is an AMAZING designer - www.allireid.com), and get my first JOB ORDER (thanks go out to another powerful woman friend)!! All in all, I'm feeling pretty cool...
Another friend of mine who has started and successfully sold numerous businesses was asking me about WMR - and I was telling him about all of my ideas. After thinking a minute, he asked me if I was starting a business or launching a CAUSE. Well, I've been doing some thinking about that, and have decided that I'd really like to do both. This idea that mothers can have the balanced life that we all crave should be a given, not a struggle. It makes me think that I need to do more than create a company where I support and live that myself, but rather create something that does more - that actually changes the way we ALL (mothers, women, men, the government, the US, the world) see the role of the the caretaker in our lives and workplace. So...yes, I am launching a CAUSE as well as a business!!! Do they have to be mutually exclusive? Some may tell me yes, but I say - HELL NO!!!
You say you want a revO-LUUU-tion - weellllll you know - we all want to change the world...
You say you a want a real so-LUUU-tion, weelllll you know, we all want to see the plan...
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Two weeks later..
Well...here I am, over two weeks since my last blog. I guess this just goes to show you how incredibly difficult we all know it is to find time for everything. One little blip, and you've come up for air 15 days later!!
I am not discouraged though - only more determined to find out how this delicate balance of family and marriage and work and self defines itself. I'm encouraged by the knowledge that I've gotten over the past few weeks from my fellow mother friends, whether working outside of the home or not. I'm encouraged because I know we all feel similar things - and that we are not alone in wanting to re-define what this picture looks like to make it fit who we are today. Where I am struggling is at the point that I feel like the whole damn system needs to be changed to support us instead of us supporting it! It seems so daunting and looming and necessary and imperative! I'll need the strength and wisdom and support and laughter of all women who are ready to change the paradigm - who are ready to join the revolution to demand that we deserve to have as much of it ALL that we want!
Phew! I'm a little out of breath! Now that I got that off my shoulders - onto the housekeeping of starting a new business. Business Plan - oh Business Plan, how I loathe you but know that I have to do you in order to try to find funding...at least I can look forward to Friday nite with the kids; some sushi (everyone in my family likes it - is that weird?), some beer (only I like it thus far...hoping to keep it that way for a while), and Where the Wild Things Are (not great reviews, but need a little escapism anyway).
I am not discouraged though - only more determined to find out how this delicate balance of family and marriage and work and self defines itself. I'm encouraged by the knowledge that I've gotten over the past few weeks from my fellow mother friends, whether working outside of the home or not. I'm encouraged because I know we all feel similar things - and that we are not alone in wanting to re-define what this picture looks like to make it fit who we are today. Where I am struggling is at the point that I feel like the whole damn system needs to be changed to support us instead of us supporting it! It seems so daunting and looming and necessary and imperative! I'll need the strength and wisdom and support and laughter of all women who are ready to change the paradigm - who are ready to join the revolution to demand that we deserve to have as much of it ALL that we want!
Phew! I'm a little out of breath! Now that I got that off my shoulders - onto the housekeeping of starting a new business. Business Plan - oh Business Plan, how I loathe you but know that I have to do you in order to try to find funding...at least I can look forward to Friday nite with the kids; some sushi (everyone in my family likes it - is that weird?), some beer (only I like it thus far...hoping to keep it that way for a while), and Where the Wild Things Are (not great reviews, but need a little escapism anyway).
Thursday, October 1, 2009
How long can it really take to get back into the swing of things?
So, to be honest, it's been a little while (a few years actually) since I've spent much time in an office with adults; having adult conversations, talking about whats happening in the world, thinking about what I'm wearing...
And here I am, sitting in an office with people around me who may or may not have children, talking about where they went for dinner last night (at home there was Mac N Cheese and I think some raw carrots), what new music they are listening to, what play they will be going to this weekend. I feel a little bit out of place - like what I have to say might seem pedestrian to those who actually live outside of the world of children. I know the work I do - and have done for the last seven years - is incredibly important - giving the next generation a strong sence of self combined with the compassion to make our world better...but it seems like I'm living in another world.
But, here I am anyway - determined to take back a piece of me that I somehow mis-placed a few years ago amidst wiping snotty noses and soiled bottoms and kissing away boo-boo's and reading stories and doing laundry and dishes and cooking meals...
My word for this decade is BALANCE, and I'm determined to find it and hold onto it for dear life!! (In case you were wondering - I'm now in my 40's. My word for my 30's was - FAMILY, and for my 20's it was - CAREER (or was it I'LL TRY ANYTHIING ONCE)) As I return to work, I find myself wondering what that looks like for me today, because it sure doesn't look like what it used to. I'm finding that it still (mostly) looks like mothers work full time at a job, and then come home and work full time at raising a family. I'm wondering how it's actually possible to do that. I know that often times I struggle to just get the laundry done and homework done the night before. So, in the spirit of BALANCE, I wondered what it would look like if we mothers of today demanded that our plate be filled differently. I wonder what it would look like to have a job/career you are passionate about - that paid you what you are worth, and in conjunction with that you actually have the time and energy to take care of yourself and you family in a way that supports EVERYTHING.
Well...as they say; If you build it, they will come. It is in this spirit that I have launched WORKING MOTHERS REVOLUTION. It's my hope that we can build a different model for ourselves so that we can take care of ALL of our needs in a balanced way. Do you believe?
And here I am, sitting in an office with people around me who may or may not have children, talking about where they went for dinner last night (at home there was Mac N Cheese and I think some raw carrots), what new music they are listening to, what play they will be going to this weekend. I feel a little bit out of place - like what I have to say might seem pedestrian to those who actually live outside of the world of children. I know the work I do - and have done for the last seven years - is incredibly important - giving the next generation a strong sence of self combined with the compassion to make our world better...but it seems like I'm living in another world.
But, here I am anyway - determined to take back a piece of me that I somehow mis-placed a few years ago amidst wiping snotty noses and soiled bottoms and kissing away boo-boo's and reading stories and doing laundry and dishes and cooking meals...
My word for this decade is BALANCE, and I'm determined to find it and hold onto it for dear life!! (In case you were wondering - I'm now in my 40's. My word for my 30's was - FAMILY, and for my 20's it was - CAREER (or was it I'LL TRY ANYTHIING ONCE)) As I return to work, I find myself wondering what that looks like for me today, because it sure doesn't look like what it used to. I'm finding that it still (mostly) looks like mothers work full time at a job, and then come home and work full time at raising a family. I'm wondering how it's actually possible to do that. I know that often times I struggle to just get the laundry done and homework done the night before. So, in the spirit of BALANCE, I wondered what it would look like if we mothers of today demanded that our plate be filled differently. I wonder what it would look like to have a job/career you are passionate about - that paid you what you are worth, and in conjunction with that you actually have the time and energy to take care of yourself and you family in a way that supports EVERYTHING.
Well...as they say; If you build it, they will come. It is in this spirit that I have launched WORKING MOTHERS REVOLUTION. It's my hope that we can build a different model for ourselves so that we can take care of ALL of our needs in a balanced way. Do you believe?
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