How much is too much?

Pic: Emily Ley

I've been giving lots of thought lately to how much it is possible to take on as a Mom.

I'm finding more and more that as I take on more to do, I totally underestimate how long it will take me to complete everything. And yes, I am a perfectionist and Type-A personality who has to have a clean house and fresh linen and 'a place for everything, and everything in it's place' before I go to bed each night. (It's exhausting living with me, believe me!)

Now that I've taken on a part time job for a short while, as well as trying to stay on top of other freelance leads so as to have something when my contract ends, I'm finding I'm either running around like a headless chicken, or trying to squash in all my chores so that the week runs as smoothly as it used to when I was staying at home.

But if I'm not able to spend good, quality time alone with my daughter, I feel the onset of mommy-guilt, as well as being an all-round grouch.

The reason I'm writing about this is because yesterday, in one of my headless-chicken-drop-off-the-dry-cleaning-buy-birthday-presents-get-groceries moments, I was so distracted and in such a hurry that I reversed into another car in a parking lot. Can you believe it. Who does something that stupid?

I do. That's who.

It's an incredibly embarassing and incredibly expensive mistake. But I'm trying to use it as a lesson. To live more slowly. To realise that if we don't have dishwasher salt, the world isn't going to end.

But the hard part comes in - I've been offered some freelance writing work in the evenings in April, on top of my 3 days a week, during a time that I know is going to be very busy socially. I have accepted, as I want more than anything to write, and earn a living from it, and don't want to turn down this great opportunity. But I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.