Confession: Today I was not able to juggle being a mum with running a business; I didn't wake in time to drop the kids off at the school bus, I wasn't home in time to do spelling homework with my 8-year-old and I wasn't even effective at work.
Excuse: I was awake three times during the night with my younger son.
Two and a half years ago I started my own business having been at home with the kids during their early years for five years. Being an Australian married to an Italian living in bella Italia, I don't have family around to help with child-care so we had to take on a full-time nanny when my business became demanding. Even if you find a great nanny there are parenting roles they just can't help you with; ferrying the kids to and from after school activities, helping with homework for example.
So the only way to move on from bad days is to pick up those juggling balls again the next morning and get them rolling.
But days like this make me wonder how other mums feel about balancing parenthood with work. A 2013 study by Pew Research Center found that 56 percent of mothers find work-life balance challenging compared to 50 percent men.
The same research study found that the "way mothers and fathers spend their time has changed dramatically in the past half century. Dads are doing more housework and child care; moms more paid work outside the home. Neither has overtaken the other in their "traditional" realms, but their roles are converging."
So I can only conclude that those 44 percent of mothers who don't find work-life balance challenging must be the mums who have husbands doing more housework and child care. Or else they're the lucky ones who have parents willing and young enough to help raise their kids.
While my Italian husband is open-minded and adopts more of an "international" than "traditional Italian" mentality, there is an underlying belief in Latin culture that men should not be expected to help with family responsibilities -- even when both parents work. Last week my husband was called mammo (a vernacular expression for a dad doing a mum's job) by a work colleague. This was after I struck a deal with him to attend a class meeting at our son's school, if I attended our other son's meeting.
So I won't find compassion amongst our community here in Italy, but I would love to hear from other working mums about whether or not they find it difficult to balance parenting and work?