Christmas season: a time for be a woman, a mother, and a homemaker

On weekends and every day after work I remind myself that I am not only a researcher in academia, but also a woman, mother, and homemaker. 

Just a few years ago, I did not sense the urge for a balance between these roles. With age, however, I became wiser, which does not mean that I have achieved the goal. The work-life balance is always elusive when one has "too much on the plate".

And yet, thinking about work-life balance is the first step toward achieving it.

What should true balance look like? True balance to me means the following:

First, I should take good care of myself, my physical health, emotional balance, and appearance.This is not a selfish act - if you do not help yourself first, you cannot help anyone else around you. Remember the rule about the oxygen mask when on board of a plane.

Second, I have a wonderful girl who brings an amazing new world to me. As she grows, I learn along with her, and these days, in many aspects I learn from my teenager. I would love to be the best mom there is, I would also love to protect whatever is left of my girl's childhood. Speaking of motherhood, in the past I liked visiting the Design Mom blog. Today I rarely have the time, but it is a nice website that reminds women of what it means to be a mom.

Third, I like being a homemaker. I love decorating, cleaning, and experimenting in the kitchen. I am also an avid gardener and love Nature. House and surroundings should be in harmony and create a space of refuge, comfort, self-improvement and inspiration. Inspiration is why I love changing the home decor (without buying anything new, of course). In the past year, I moved the furniture in my living room 3 or 4 times. My rule is, keep it fluid, dynamic, and fresh. Housekeeping should be fun, not drudgery.

Am I accomplished in all my roles? No, I am not. But one day I feel good about cleaning the house, the next day I am satisfied with my research work, and on an occasional evening my meal on the table might be acknowledged to be well cooked. I am not perfect, but I am inspired.

Have a wonderful, healthy, and inspirational holiday season! 
 

The snow angel overlooking our living room

It is starting to look like Christmas

Keep those pickle jars...

Santa to the rescue

A bit of magic on the tree

A bit of humor on the tree

How to raise our girls

Recently, I watched The Future is Now: Medical education for the 21st century, a presentation from Harvard Medical School. At around minute 19:50, one of the speakers, Dr. Edward Hundert introduced an interesting concept on raising children. 

The concept came from Hinduism and the belief in reincarnation. If the parent dies when the daughter is still in childbearing age, the parent may end up reincarnated in the daughter’s womb. 

From this possibility stemmed the conclusion: “raise your daughter as you might be raising your own mother”. 

The audience found this statement hilarious, but if you think about it, the advice is sound. 

The very first thought that came to my mind was that I needed to be respectful in how I approach and treat my child. I hope I have been doing this all along, even without the fear of being reincarnated in my daughter’s womb…

This advice goes to complement my previous post on how to better understand our children. 

It is becoming more and more complicated for the parents, but I am sure that it is even more complicated for our children. It is not easy to grow up in today's world. This is a world of many demands and distractions.