Who's bringing the White Castles?

One of the past holidays this year I ended up having to work. Although the work day ended short I had to work passed closing time.  Working late left me with no time to prepare an appetizer I was supposed to cook and bring to the family party. At this point I was stressing because either I went home to cook my dish and show up 2 hours late or I could get something store bought (which ended up being completely sold out of ready-made dishes). I didn't want to show up empty handed so I opted for White Castles. Classy, right?

That story got me thinking about my life over the last year and half back in the work force. I began thinking about the areas I seemed to really accomplish well as a mom with 55,000 things on her plate.  I felt really great about my ability to balance schedules of my own family's day to day activities.  It seemed I have been really great at the day to days, but it's the "extras" I seemed to be lacking.

The "extras" in working mom lingo is anything outside of the 8 to 9 to 10 hour day (which ever your reality might be).  The sheer energy of getting ready and getting a kid to daycare or family member's house is just about all the energy a normal person would have left...for the ENTIRE DAY, but then you have to work, pick them up, go home, make dinner, give baths, do random household stuff, spend time with your spouse, and then finalllllly go to sleep.

The "extras" might be that family dinner on a week night or going to the grocery store after work. It's not that us working moms despise these "extra" activities, we love them! It may just mean we go to those "extra" events looking a little tired, maybe a little late, or maybe the dish we bring isn't homemade. The most important thing is that we are THERE sharing our precious moments with the people we work so hard to enjoy. So don't feel guilty about bringing the White Castles.