It’s hard to find a work-life balance as a new parent. How can you raise your child according to your values while also maintaining your sanity as a person?
You’re juggling it all. And the cost is your sanity. But, there’s no ball you truly want to drop. There is no balance in this work-life balance. Everything is cattywampus.
I’m going to suggest that, if this sounds like you, maybe there is something about this way of doing it that you like. Well, maybe not like, but you value.
Today I talk with my daughter, Kaitlin Pettit, about being a mother. I adored having this conversation.
My daughter’s heroine is Hermione Granger, a young woman who did things the “hard way.” You’ll hear why doing things the hard way is the best choice for my girl. And why, if you do things the “hard way” it might be the best choice for you too.
“Home-made” makes a difference
The more involved you are in the details of your life, the more connected you are to your world and to yourself. This home-made difference can be felt in the details of growing your food, or by working at a job that aligns with your values.
This is why Kaitlin balances her work with raising her daughter at home. She’s chosen to include her children in everything from growing the food they eat to holding her child on her lap while she takes a business meeting.
But Kaitlin makes her sacrifice very clear: Sanity.
Because it means so much that she puts her personal touch on everything she does, she is feeling spread thin. Our discussion allows you to hear why she’s made these choices and how she is rethinking how she’d like to do things in the future.
She’s learning the value of paying money for things she can do herself. This ability to live according to your values AND notice when you’re tired and need rest is a critical skill that parenting cultivates. No one can “do it all,” and that’s why a healthy work-life balance (which sometimes includes paying for sanity) is so important.
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3 Moms find their motherhood heart
Remember the story I told you last week about my cereal-aisle-toddler-meltdown and the woman who invited me to trust my motherhood heart?
This interview is the second in a 3-part series where I’m talking to 3 moms who’ve chosen different approaches to parenting. My hope is that you’ll hear what motivates each woman to make her choice (and I recognize that even having a choice around parenting and work is a privilege).
Trust. Trust your motherhood heart. I hope this series is inspiring YOU to tune into and trust YOUR motherhood heart. Because your baby chose you to be their parent. Your baby needs all the unique things you have to offer.
There is no BEST way to be a mother. No recipe. That’s what’s so great. You get to make this up. And that’s HARD. And that’s wonderful.
How have you found a work-life balance as a parent?
I’d love to hear about your parenting values. What drives you to make the choices you make? What sacrifices do you find yourself making? What struggles do you encounter? Text me at 970-210-4480 because there’s nothing I love more than being included in the details of love at your home.
Connect with my guest
Kaitlin Pettit, Ph.D. is an environmental ethicist and the CEO of Toilet Equity. She spent four years at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon getting a BA in Philosophy, as well as six years at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah getting her doctorate in Philosophy. She wrote her dissertation on corporate moral responsibility in response to climate change. You can donate to Toilet Equity here.
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