The Rule

 The last time I worked full time was the year Tracey was a baby.  Even then, my days began at 5:00am and I was off at 1:00pm -- so it was a 40 hour week, but I got my afternoons and evenings with my baby.

Fast-forward 7 years and I am not only working full time, but I am filling two teaching positions -- one should be full-time by itself and the other should be half-to 3/4 time by itself.  My plate is very full.

I'm contracted to a full-time position, but this job could easily take 60+ hours of my life... and of course, I want to do it well.

But I'm also the mother of 6, and I get off work at 4:00pm, and my children are headed to bed at 7:00.  I get three precious hours to welcome them home from school, connect with them about how their day was, feed them dinner, help them with homework, get them baths, and ready for bed with a bedtime story.  The evenings are even more full when you add sporting events, school events, and Hubby's evening school responsibilities.

If I do not devote my attention to my children between the hours of 4:00-7:00, the time is gone.  Not only is the time gone, but everyone has a rough night, a poor night's sleep, and it carries over into a rough morning.

Sometimes there will be a work event or meeting that requires my after-school attention, but the RULE has to be that I am with my kids from 4:00-7:00 and taking care of them and their needs, and it will be the rare EXCEPTION that takes me away from that.