Confessions of a “Weekend Mom”

I am a working mom. 40 hours a week with an hour commute each way means I get an hour with my kids in the morning and two hours at night. Most of my mom-ing happens on the weekend. I guess that makes me a working “weekend mom”.

Yes, I chose to work. I knew from a young age that I could never stay home, which means I have to make many sacrifices. It’s unfortunate and I wish that I had part-time options, but for me it’s an all or nothing kind of deal. I so wish I had an extra 6 hours a day to get things done! 80% of my week is consumed with mundane activities like cooking, driving, chores and also working full-time, so I don’t have as much time during the week for the things I really want to do: meet up with girlfriends over coffee, spend the day snuggling with daughters in our jammies, or taking our dog to the vet before they close at 5 PM. (My dog is seriously behind on his vaccines. Oops!)

I feel like I’m on auto pilot most of the week. It’s a real struggle to “have it all”. I feel like I can’t truly give 100% to everything like I thought I could. My workouts are half-attempts because I’m running on fumes. I constantly think about my kids at work. When I’m with my kids, I think about all the chores I need to do– the dishes, laundry, groceries, and meal planning. When I’m doing chores, I think about all the time I’m wasting when I could be snuggling my kids. I simply can’t do it all during the week, so cramming my to-do list into the 2-day weekend is my only option.

Being a working mom has proven difficult, but it’s my reality. All moms have their stressors, but working “weekend moms” have just one more thing on their plates to juggle.

I’m here to share my confessions of being a working “weekend mom”:

1. My house is clean 10% of the time. I do all my major cleaning on Saturday morning so I can spend as much time as I can with my family during the week.
2. I haven’t been on a coffee date with a friend in months. Weekends used to be for friends, but now it’s for housework, quality family time, and errands.
3. I haven’t made it to the bank before 5 PM during the week in years. I always have to rush to the bank before noon or do it all online.
4. Sunday is food prep day. I hate the thought of wasting time cooking/cleaning every night when I can spend time with my family. This usually takes up 1-2 hours and stinks, but it’s so worth it.
5. When I say I live on coffee, I mean it. Getting up at 5:30 AM after broken sleep, working for 8 hours, making an hour commute and being a 24/7 mom to two kids under 3 means I’m in a constant state of disarray.
6. I only own a few pairs of sweats. There is rarely time to lounge around much except the occasional Sunday morning. I find it hard to lounge when there’s so much to do in only two days’ time.
7. Most of my mom friends are in the same boat as me, so we have to plan weekend play dates months in advance.
8. Hubby and I are on zone defense with the kids all the time. We both cook, clean, bathe our kids, do bedtime routines and clean up poop. We evenly divide the workload so one person doesn’t feel the burden of it all. (And at the end of the day, when he wants a beer and a foot rub, you better believe I get one, too.)
9. Although we have an awesome on-site daycare, I sometimes miss milestones and fun moments (Valentine’s Day parties, craft days, Santa visiting, etc.) because I’m in a meeting. While I can pop down anytime I want, I don’t often get to because of my busy schedule.
10. We always miss weekday activities and specials, like morning play dates, snow days, $1 admission to the PlayStation, $5 jumps at AirFX, library readings and craft time. We do what we can during the weekend, but there aren’t often many great deals or opportunities.

Weekend moms, I know how hard it is! Finding that sweet spot of balance seems nearly impossible some days, especially during the working week. Just know you’re not alone. The weekends are entirely precious, so soak them up! Here’s a virtual hug and a coffee to go from me to you.

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