This new year I did not make resolutions. Instead, I chose a word. One word to focus on for the year and for my life. My word this year was BALANCE. And, I think that I might have come a little closer to my word recently. For those of you who don’t know…I got a J-O-B. That’s right, I’m taking the plunge back into the working world. Well, maybe not plunge, maybe just a little toe dipping.

I went back to work shortly after having Ava and tried to balance my two worlds, with some success I think. I was really lucky because I had a great boss who was super flexible (by any standards, but especially by the standards of the academic science world) and I had great childcare so I never worried when I was away. I also had a fantastic spouse who carried his half and between it all …it worked. I remember one set of experiments that took about 18 hrs to complete and they had to be done straight through. I would nurse Ava and then drive into the lab at around 4 in the morning and then drive home to feed her again and get us all ready for the day and off to work at our normal time. When I found out baby number two was on her way, I realized it would be pretty near impossible to keep all the balls in the air juggling a scientific post-doc with two little children. Since we were moving states due to Dave’s job, I decided it was a good time for a little sabatical. I was surprised by how much flak this drew from different people. I had more than one person make comments such as, “Well, that’s such a shame.” Even if I retorted that I still planned to be a productive member of both society and the scientific community at large and perhaps return to work in a couple years, people looked at me as though I had two heads. Even my father was concerned, asking “When are you going to get back to work…” about a month after I had Olivia. Of course, I should add that I also had some really supportive people who barely blinked when I said I was taking time off.

Taking the past year off has been the best decision for me. We have had so much FUN! I have really enjoyed being fully present while both girls are growing, changing, and learning every day. I also think our house is more peaceful since we aren’t constantly late for work or late for a doctors appointment or rushing to get dinner on the table when we get home before everyone needs to go to bed. Of course, on the flip side…since staying home there have been days when I thought I might actually lock myself in the bathroom if I had to deal with one more temper tantrum or pee running down someones leg or crying babies that refused to sleep. I have missed adult conversations and grabbing coffee with my pals while we debated the latest scientific news or celebrity gossip. Hell, I have missed just having a full day of adult conversation or being able to plan an actual experiment rather than thinking about discipline techniques, potty training, and organic baby foods. While I just couldn’t see heading back into work at a post-doc working 10 hour days while 1/2 of my salary would go to daycare, I think I may have found a compromise.

Thanks to my old boss Brett, I found a position with a contractor that manages the grant review process for groups such as NIH, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), DOD, etc. I can work from home most of the time and then go into Washington DC for meetings every month or so. I started the job this past month and have already been to DC a couple times. I hired a babysitter to come over 10-20 hrs a week to help out with the kids while I work. Ava is attending preschool now a couple days a week and will go 5 days a week in the fall for several hours each day. My Mom is close enough to come up when I am gone for overnight trips. All the balls are back in the air. And, I think I have found a resemblance of balance. For now. At least on the Mommy front. Now off to balance the other flanks.Posted by Picasa