Secrets of A Working Mom

I am a working mom. I have three boys aged thirteen (13), eleven (11) and three (3). I am a wife. I have a household to manage. I also work as a senior research analyst during the day. I love my job. I love my family. How do I keep up with all the things that I have to do? Here's a list of the things I usually do to keep my sanity and make sure that everything goes well at work and at home.

(1) Identify major things that need to be accomplished for the month. I have a calendar where I write all the birthdays, important school and office events, and due dates of bills that need to be paid for the month. This helps me a lot in time management and budgeting as well as in planning activities/vacations/trips for the family.

(2) Apart from the monthly calendar, I also make a daily list of the things that I need to do for the day.

(3) I have accepted the fact that I cannot do everything alone. Because of this, I have learned to identify which tasks I can delegate to other members of the family (including our household helper) and which ones I have to attend to personally.

(4) I report for work early and usually leave the office on time. Yes, I leave the office on time but I work really hard during the hours that I am at the office. The result? I never miss deadlines but I get to have dinner with my boys.

(5) Weekends are for my family. Para kaming value meal kapag weekends. Inseparable, they say.

(6) I try to plan for at least two family getaways/vacations/trips in a year. Hubby and I believe in making memories and these trips have always brought the family closer.

(7) Hubby and I make sure we have time to be "hubby and wife" naman. We go out on dates every chance we get. Plus, we both love running so we join running events almost every week.

(8) I attend PTCs to keep myself updated of my sons' performance and behavior in school. I also give my contact numbers to the teachers and tell them that I would appreciate getting feedback (whether positive or negative) about my children.

(9) I try to find time to do the things I love to do like blogging and keeping in touch with my friends via Facebook.

(10) Even though I am a planner by nature, I save some room for spontaneity. This keeps the fun and excitement in the family.

There. I hope that this will, somehow, help other working moms. Marami mang kailangang gawin, kaya natin 'to! We're too blessed to be stressed! :)