Just got through listening to a podcast interview with Kim Lavine, the author of “The Mommy Millionaire”.? Not only was she perfectly delightful, but she is even more savvy and sharp “in person”.? I won’t give you a synopsis because it’s definitely worth listening to on your own, but I will tell you the part that glued itself to my brain…
I’ll paraphrase (badly):
“the question I often get asked is ‘how do you balance your work and family life?’
“and I say to them: screw balance!? this whole ‘balance’ idea has been sold to us to make us feel guilty.? I don’t know anybody who has ‘work/ life balance’… if I take a lot of time off in the summer and work like a maniac the rest of the year, hey, that equals balance… and when it comes to cleaning the house… just resolve to burn down your house after 10 years.? Because housework should be the first thing to go, or the last thing we think about as mothers, and business owners, and women.”
Oh yeah, that pretty much made my night.? Gave me the perfect excuse for the ultimate defiant act of domestic equilibrium: ordering take out while avoiding washing the dishes.? No mass has been added to the sink, and none taken away.? Somehow the universe is in perfect balance — again.