Having it all

I've been thinking recently (again) about my frequent frustration trying to attain that perfect balance for which most of the mothers I know seem to be striving too.

And last evening as I sat with a bowl of snacks and a cocktail prepared by my Dad, all of us chatting and relaxed in the living room, it came up for me again. When my parents are visiting, I automatically let go of some of the tasks (the LIST!) that I'm normally trying to work my way through. I let work projects slide unless there is an immediate deadline and just focus on enjoying my time with them. I make the time to cook nice meals with my Mum, we head into town to get a treat with Sweetpea after school, we talk and go shopping and just enjoy the moment.

But on a daily basis, with no visitors, I'm always trying to attain that balance. Doing it all. Having it all - motherhood, a career, exercise, maintaining friendships, making sure that English hubby and I are getting quality time together (which is often last on the list).

And then I read this post on anymommy today, and it reminded me yet again. We AREN'T superheros. We may try to be, but many times we're doomed to disappointment because it just isn't possible to be all things at all times.

So I thought I'd share a short documentary that I edited a couple of years ago that asks Woman-On-The-Street style "What Do Women Want?". Some colleagues and I created it for a film festival competition for fun - the mission to shoot and edit a film in two days (a weekend) to be screened on the Monday evening. Some of the answers we got were funny or off-the-cuff, but many were thoughtful. And the woman who stumbles trying to articulate that women CAN have it all, but just not all at the same time hit the proverbial nail on the head.

Let's all take a deep breath and go easy on ourselves, shall we?
Doing our best on a daily basis is good enough.