Saturday, September 15, 2018

What the work-life balance

There I am. That's me. Sitting on the bench.. looking at my kids playing..

And there she is..another mom.. sitting on another bench... looking at her kids playing..

"So, what are you thinking hmmm?" she mutters.
I gaze at her face and say "I am thinking what should I be thinking about next.."
She does not think I am crazy.
She gets it.
"Me too" she says..
And we both gaze at each other waiting to see who goes first because once it starts it's going to be like two trains speedily heading towards the same exact destination which is called "work life balance" in the corporate world. The world once we were part of. 

I happen to think "work life balance" is a really fashionable word used in the offices by people. Like it's a fashion amongst kids to walk their pets. When time comes to clean the "you know what", it's suddenly someone else's responsibility.

I go to grocery stores. I go to parks. I go to doctor appointments. I go to parties(to drop off and pick up that is...I got you there.. didn't I?) . I go to school events. I meet moms. And I get it. I get that we are all in the same ship. We have a very busy morning, followed by a downtime of few hours and then a very busy evening. Either that or we have a very busy morning, then a commute, a good fulfilling career (mostly) and then again very short but chaotic time with kids before they go to bed. I have now experienced both sides. And I certainly think if we all put our minds together, may be in a couple of decades, picture will change..very convincing...I know...

The other day someone told me "moms are more suitable for the operational jobs" and let's just say I do not want to tell you what happened next. Just which part of a mom's work is "operational" ? None of it.. if moms can handle all what they are doing then they can handle any unknown and stressful situation at work even if they have little to no domain knowledge. Talk about patience at work place. They got it. Talk about stress. Should I even start? Talk about being creative. We got it!! Talk about being fearless and bold..hell ya! Talk about hard work, Roger that!!! Talk about being a good listener..I see all fingers pointing at us!! Talk about being good at talking? Drum roll please!! Talk about being fast learnens? Oh yeah! We are so fast, so fast, we become just from being g "just us" to "us and kid and diapers and homework and dishes and fight resolving machines and most loving mentors" in a matter of seconds! So, I don't see anything operational in what we do! We would kill (no pun) any project if we put our mind to it! 

That's only if we use our most productive hours and marry them with our passion and our thirst to learn and achieve and our tenacity to take things to the end no matter what the outcome is. All we need is to find the right opportunity.

Corporate world, do you have jobs for this hidden talent? Do you have opportunities for this amazing work force waiting to jump in and prove that they matter, they can make a difference and not at the cost of loosing their valuable time with their family..


Thursday, June 21, 2018

Beginning never ends

Another year has passed me by in a jiffy and it is time to turn off those alarms. The alarms to wake up to make the school lunches, the alarms for the late pick ups from the school, the reminders for the concerts, to pay for the yearbooks and the ones to send in popcorn for a party...and yet I know everyone will be awake bright and early tomorrow even before the alarm would have rung... because, hey...who doesn't want to get up really really early on the first day of your hard earned summer vacation? I will see an almost teenager boy with a ball in his hand running up and down the stairs at 6 AM with "I am starving" written all over his face followed by a girl with curly hair blissfully walking down the stairs with a book in her hand!! And this is the same boy who showed me "will wake up in two minutes" by raising two fingers and then one minute and then thirty seconds right from under his sheets just until yesterday...

The beginning of the school year just feels like yesterday to me. I guess it's true that when things come to an end the beginning feels really close by but when you are in the midst of it all, it feels like every day is spread far and wide.

Soon there will be fights and yelling...fights for the same chair to sit on..fights for the same laptop to be used followed with complaints about who has gotten more electronic time and who is mom's favorite..soon there will be complaints about same food at lunch, dinner and breakfast. There will be a dozen shoes at the door, junk food wrappers on the floor... lemonade in the fridge and bug bites on the legs...

Just yesterday I was a mom who struggled to put two kids in the car seats and admired that toothless grin and waited to have meaningful conversations with them and today I am a mom who knows time is fleeting and if I have to create a zillion points on my graph, I better work hard and I better work fast. Today I am a mom who yells and the one who is in total disbelief that I can yell this much in this short time. And today I am also a mom who knows it's okay to yell. It is okay to behave like an imperfect human being. It is okay to have a messy house but playful kids. It is okay to be in those photos even when I think I look like a mess. 

Soon there will be a time when I will be in the passenger seat. Soon I will witness that shy smile with the braces on. Soon I will see them go in their rooms and chat with their friends behind the closed doors... Soon there will be no more mess on the table. Soon things will be used as they are meant to be and they will be in the places they were supposed to be..Soon it will be 6 AM and there would be me hating the eerie silence because I can actually hear the clock ticking..

Here is to another summer of making memories and realizing that growing never has to stop..Cheers!!