The MLK Work-at-Home Day

I canceled a 7:30, bowed out of an 8:30, moved two meetings and made one into a conference call.  And I avoided the two-hour round-trip commute to the office.  Add it all up and I have found four new hours of productivity today, just by making the choice to work at home. I was kidding myself when I thought I'd make my kids happy by just being around on a Monday of all days, present and available to drive them to whatever play dates they would arrange with their friends.  My son took off already last night, and will be gone for the next 24 hours.  And my daughter, after a nice breakfast with me (I had already ran one errand and put in two hours before she even found her way down to the kitchen), took off on foot to the neighbor's house.  Her friend's dad is out of work, like many neighbors around here now, so I'm not the only stay-at-home parent today. And thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. for making this whole day possible.  After the kids took off, I immediately regretted not heading downtown at 7 a.m. for the annual MLK breakfast.  Lord knows I need a little bigger-than-me inspiration for the week, and a reality check that today is, after all, a holiday for a very important reason. Now I'm plowing through my to-do list, and I have the time to check out almost every Tweet that pops up on my screen.  I'm getting my MLK fix via the profound 140-character quotes, videos and Twitpics my virtual community is passing around. And I'm noticing just how many of the followed and followers are using Twitter to stay connected when they are attempting to do the same thing I am today.  It's my out-of-office community experience that I just can't shake no matter where I am: at the real office, at the mock one at home, on the plane, or in between gymnastics practices and three-games-a-day basketball tournaments. And then a DM shows up, suggesting that I write a blog about "balance."  Too funny. I love my work, I love my kids, my husband and my alone time.  I have a great job, a wonderful family, am healthy and working at getting healthier.  What's the trick?  Hard work and good luck, I guess.  And it helps that I've found my own custom knack at juggling this 20 years ago -- and I've gotten good enough at it to let the never-takes-a-break social media crowd join in the fun. So, thanks for the suggestion but I really don't really have any specific advice for any of you, except to encourage you  to be grateful for all that you do have, make the most of it, and forgive yourself if plans don't work out the way you imagined.  Oh...and don't call this the act of "balancing."  Let's just think of it as "blending," shall we?  Or, to bring the concept truly current, how about:  it's just one big "mash?" Gotta run -- I'm getting a text coming in:  WHAT'S 4 DINNER?