A New Mom. A Writer. A Homemaker. Is it Easy?

Posted: February 15, 2017

Tags:motherhood work-life balance working mother

Writing professionally is what you’d like to do, but you have a baby and a home to look after. How do you do it? A new mom muses.

The joy of being a new mom is unmatched. The emotions cannot be justified through words. However, being a mother means a lot of responsibility, too. Especially, if you are the one who wants to succeed professionally, too.

It isn’t easy juggling between the role of a new mom, homemaker and writer. Writing is a time consuming activity that flourishes in the deepest corner of your mind. Concentration and imagination are at the heart of creative writing. Honestly, with an infant, writing did seem like a distant dream to me.

Imagine drafting imagination on a piece of paper when your baby is pulling at the end of your shirt. When you have to cook lunch or dinner. When the dirty dishes, unwashed clothes, wrinkled bed sheet, etc. begin to bother you. It wasn’t easy when a many priority began to queue up in front of me. So, what was I supposed to do? Give up on my dreams?

One day, I sat in silence and pondered over the practicality of working full time. I could take up a full time copywriting job, I thought. What about my son? I immediately shrugged the idea away. I could request the company for work for home, I smiled. However, I knew that even this wasn’t going to be unchallenging as it is difficult to work under tight deadlines with a toddler.

So, I decided to begin by writing as per the comfort of my son for national and international anthologies, contests, magazines, blogs, etc. For instance, the best time to write was when my toddler was put to sleep during the day and night.

When the workload is heavy and my countenance is filled with anxiety, my husband asks me to quit writing. He tells me to wait for the right time to follow my dreams. I cannot explain to him the gratification I get from writing. I cannot explain to him that I am capable of managing my son and work together. Rather, I don’t want to. I want him to see for himself how I strike a balance between work and motherhood. Honestly, he has appreciated me a few times, too. But, then, this isn’t about appreciation. It is about fulfilling my passion that otherwise would begin to rust.

At the end, I would say to all the beautiful mothers that our children are our priority. And, they will always be. However, if you are the one with passionate goals then don’t let them fade into oblivion. I would suggest from my experience that it is easier to manage work as per your child’s schedule. For example, I am writing this post when my son is sleeping next to me.