The Elusive Art of Balance

  Everybody wants it.  We see it on TV, in movies, read about it in books (well, maybe not all the time in books), and envy our friends and family members that seem to have it all.  What is this IT that no one can seem to obtain?  Quite simply put, it's balance.

  Cue the orange juice commericial - a sparkling clean house, nutritious food on the table, Mom's make up on, kids are dressed, laughter all around as Dad snags a quick kiss from Mom...and she just smiles and waves.

  What type of pressure does that place on the Moms of today?  We pretty much figure we can't do it all, so we end up on meds or head to a shrink to tell us that we just need to accept the place that we are in at this particular point of our lives. (Insert quick note I am shrink and med free.  I'm too stubborn to have someone tell me how to fix things and too frugal to pay for meds.)

  Yet here I am, throwing a quick blog post together - I mean, dinner is done, dishes are washed, kids are occupied...anyone walking into the house at this very moment would probably envy ME!  ME, the one who didn't manage to get her make up on, glossed over the "S" word (schoolwork), and our bed sheets still haven't made it back on the bed (it's laundry day, too), all while I'm trying to talk the eldest out of a dog that he doesn't need!

   I suppose we all put on this amazing act when we walk out of the house.  Or should.  OK, let's say you don't.  I think I'm up to 75% confidence, 50% of the time.  There is still this part of me that wants to hide under a ball cap with the big shades...JUST so NO ONE looks at me!!  I am a walking, talking, "faking it BIG time" unbalanced person.  Not freaky unbalanced, but edging towards major nerdy and existing inside a very scrambled brain.

  Oh, I've got most of the routine down.  That's helped me balance.  I have kids to do the dishes, we have the coffee pot programmed the night before, and the dogs go out three times (cough, cough, 10) times a day.  Mike gets breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day...some days I jokingly refer to myself as a kept woman.  I make sure that everyone gets some "alone" time - especially me.  I read so much that I am still locked within the pages of a great novel days after I've completed it.

  I don't know, I guess that deep down I understand that no one has it all.  Every person I meet is a writhing, whirling, mass of passion and angst that just hides it really well under that cup of coffee and newspaper.