Doing it all

This past weekend I came very close to ending up in a padded room somewhere. There are times when I have gone for weeks or months juggling all of the things that are required to keep a home and a family and then something gets dropped, a bill is missed, the dog gets sick, my husband buys a Harley, I forget someones birthday, etc. and I come unglued...this weekend was one of those times. I am the one that does the laundry, cleaning, paying bills, bathing children, school and childcare arranging, planning birthday parties, grocery shopping, I even mow my fair share of the lawn...you name it I do more than my share...all while working full-time. I know I am not alone....we asked for equal rights and we got 'em, and then some. What a cruel trick. Women just wanted the freedom to work outside of the home and to be able to get the same education as a man and here we are...not only are we educated and working but we still get to be domestic goddesses. Aren't we lucky. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to take a step back, I just want us to evolve past this "everything to everybody" stage of having to try and do it all and feeling inadequate along the way for not being able to give 100% in any one faucet of our lives. I hope by the time my daughters are grown that they either lower their expectations of what they should do or be...or better yet I hope they marry some highly evolved men who enjoy cooking and aren't afraid of cleaning and do not treat watching after their own children like babysitting. My advice to my husband this weekend was - "you better figure out how you are going to pay the bills when I am in the loony bin!"

Let the truth be known and the slacker beware!

Sometimes I am ahead of the curve...at least I like to think so. I suggested a year ago or so to my boss that it may actually benefit people to have salaries be public information. He scoffed at the idea. I can see his reluctance. BUT Just think for a minute though and you may agree with me. Everyone has people that they work with whom you suspect are grossly overpaid and some that you suspect are very underpaid. In my current position I have access to not exact salaries but a general idea of a persons salary range through a grading system. I am amazed and flabbergasted at what some people make whom I know, from first hand experience, are incompetent at best. If their salary were public information I think their would be an out cry to oust the laggard from their comfy perch and send them packing. I also think this would make equal pay for women a reality. No more .70 to a dollar or whatever the current delta is. Men would have to start ponying up to keep high performing women on their team. Very interesting that this article appeared in the NY Times.

Psst! Your Salary Is Showing

The story behind "Real Life is Hard"

How did I decide on the title for this blog? Funny story. I once dated a guy in college (I'll call him Vince) that was fortunate enough to grow up in a comfortable home. His parents were well off and he never had to pay for a book or a class. He was able to study abroad and travel the world. As we neared graduation we were talking of our plans for life after school. As we discussed jobs and responsibilities, such as actually paying his own rent, etc. he paused and said, "real life is gonna be hard." No shit Sherlock! I was not in the same place; I had been living real life for a long time. It was then that the end of our relationship became inevitable to me. It wasn’t long after that we went our separate ways. His realization that real life can be hard is one that I am amazed that anyone should have to come to. I was lucky enough to grow up with parents who schooled us in reality. Although my parents were not hard off, I was not handed everything, there were consequences and hard work was required. And I am grateful for that!