{"id":27220,"date":"2017-11-14T22:48:47","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T03:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=27220"},"modified":"2017-11-14T22:48:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T03:48:47","slug":"work-mom-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2017\/11\/work-mom-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"“Work-Mom” Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>My husband Brad and I are proud parents of a 20-month-old daughter, Lucille.\u00a0 Having to balance being a mom and a litigator at a large firm is probably the most challenging thing I\u2019ve ever done.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also an accomplishment of which I am very proud, and I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.\u00a0 I don\u2019t pretend to be an expert, and I still have a lot to learn.\u00a0 But based on the past 20 months, here are some tips that I\u2019ve acquired to support a \u201cwork-mom\u201d balance:<\/p>\n

It takes a village<\/strong>.\u00a0 I won\u2019t sugarcoat this:\u00a0 I\u2019d have to quit my job if it weren\u2019t for my husband and my mom.\u00a0 My husband works predictable, regular hours and, with rare exception, does not have to work at night or on the weekends.\u00a0 He is an extremely present dad, is helpful at home, and is very supportive and understanding of my job.\u00a0 My mom lives 30 miles away and is our go-to babysitter, with little to no notice, particularly when Lucy is sick and has to stay home from daycare.\u00a0 She watched Lucy twice per week when she was an infant and is the most dependable person in our lives.<\/p>\n

Invest in superior daycare<\/strong>, whatever that means for you and your family.\u00a0 For us, it means that Lucy attends a daycare in downtown Madison, only two blocks away from both my and my husband\u2019s offices.\u00a0 We put her on the waitlist as soon as we found out we were pregnant.\u00a0 She absolutely loves it there, and I have no qualms about admitting that she learns just as much from her teachers as she does from us at home.\u00a0 My walk to pick her up is the best part of my day, and no matter what happens at work, I always have something to look forward to.<\/p>\n

Establish reasonable boundaries<\/strong>, and stick to them.\u00a0 Absent an emergency, trial, or maybe a dispositive motion filing, I make a point to leave work every day by 5:30.\u00a0 Our daughter goes to bed by 7:00, and I certainly didn\u2019t decide to have a baby with the idea of not seeing her during the week.\u00a0 But this is not as easy as it sounds, and it comes with some important caveats.\u00a0 First, I had to work up to this point.\u00a0 I\u2019m a senior associate, and I didn\u2019t have my daughter until my fifth year at the firm.\u00a0 I devoted my first few years to building my reputation as a hard-working, reliable associate, so as to gain the trust of the partners for whom I work.\u00a0 That meant a lot of hours and face-time in the office.\u00a0 Second, it is nearly impossible to meet my billable hour requirement just working until 5:00 Monday through Friday.\u00a0 I can be as efficient and productive as possible, but non-billable work is still a necessary part of my day.\u00a0 To meet my billable hour requirement, I have to work in the evening after Lucy goes to bed or on the weekend (and sometimes both).\u00a0 I choose to work on Saturday and Sunday mornings because I like to get it out of the way, and it helps me go into the next week already feeling ahead.\u00a0 But I can do this only with the support of my husband.\u00a0 (Like I said, it takes a village.)<\/p>\n

Give yourself a break<\/strong>.\u00a0 I mean this in a few different ways.\u00a0 First, give yourself a break, as in take time for yourself.\u00a0 For me, that means that twice per week, I work out with a personal trainer.\u00a0 It\u2019s the only guaranteed \u201cme time\u201d that I get in the week, and it absolutely makes me a more energized mom and a more productive lawyer.\u00a0 It is money and time very well spent.\u00a0 Second, give yourself a break, as in don\u2019t be afraid to delegate as appropriate.\u00a0 As just one example, we pay a company to clean our windows inside and out every spring.\u00a0 It\u2019s a chore that would take me literally an entire weekend, and I can\u2019t afford to take that time away from our daughter or my work.\u00a0 In my life, time is money, quite literally.\u00a0 Third and finally, give yourself a break, as in cut yourself some slack.\u00a0 I bought Lucy\u2019s Halloween costume, and I probably always will.\u00a0 The PTA is not in the cards for me, and I\u2019m not going to make many of Lucy\u2019s future sporting events.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t make me a bad mom, and I don\u2019t feel guilty.\u00a0 I\u2019m working every single day to build a better life for her.\u00a0 I know it, my husband knows it, and one day, she will too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband Brad and I are proud parents of a 20-month-old daughter, Lucille.\u00a0 Having to balance being a mom and a litigator at a large firm is probably the most challenging thing I\u2019ve ever done.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also an accomplishment of which I am very proud, and I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.\u00a0 I 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