Working Moms Series – Jessica from A Modern Mom’s Life

a modern mom's life

Welcome to my new series: Working Moms.  (I’m happy to include working Dads as well, I just don’t see as many of them visiting my blog.)

I thought I’d be the first to give my questions a go.  This series is a way to hear from other working parents about their struggles and accomplishments as working parents.  I’d love to feature you (whether you’re a blogger or not!) so please contact me if you’d like to be included in my series.

Without further ado – onto my questions!

Today’s post is from Jessica at A Modern Mom’s Life (www.jessicafoley.ca)

Describe your home life – how old are your kids? Does your spouse work as well? Or are you a single parent?

My girls are 7 and 10 – Rose will be 8 in May.  My husband and I both work outside the home.  He works full time plus has a side business (Fusix is a webhosting and network cabling company, among other IT things) which keeps him very busy!

What do you do? Describe your working life.

I’m a pharmacy assistant.  That means I work behind the counter in a pharmacy.  I get your medications ready and then the pharmacist checks my work.  I also spend half my week at work packing compliance packs.  Those are the blister packages that have pills inside the bubbles.  Sometimes that’s tedious work!

I’m also a virtual assistant and blogger.  I’ve been blogging for almost 5 years, but I’m only approaching year three with A Modern Mom’s Life on WordPress.  I love writing, but sometimes I feel like blogging and all the social sharing takes over my life a bit.

As a virtual assistant I help other businesses with their behind-the-scenes tasks. From email list creation to social media sharing – if it happens online, I can help you out with it!

Join my email list to learn more about how I can help you as a virtual assistant.

And how many hours do you work in a week?

At the pharmacy I work 32 hours per week – 4 full days.  I take every Wednesday off.  With blogging I work all the time.  I devote a few hours to blogging on a Wednesday, and I spend time in the evenings on social media and doing promotion. This is also when I complete my VA tasks.

How soon did you return to work after having a child?  And is your work life the same now (same job, or role at that job?)

In Canada we get one year income “replacement” for maternity and parental leave.  I took all of it and my husband only took a week off right when the kids were born.  When I returned to work, Emma was almost one (she’s my oldest.) I moved from being a cashier at the pharmacy to working behind the counter with the pharmacists.  I’ve been a pharmacy assistant for 10 years now, and I’ve been at the pharmacy for 18.  (Am I really that old??)

What do you do to treat yourself?  Do you have something in your routine that you do just for you?

I have Wednesdays to myself.  That is huge for me.  I do housework and I try to fit in a walk or jog.  I spend time blogging, which I feel is time for me. But the big thing I do “just for me” is my dance classes.  Every Tuesday night I take a dance class with other adult ladies (and a few men) and I love it!

Touch on your most and least favourite things about being a working parent.

I enjoy being at the pharmacy – the folks there are like a second family to me.  It’s so great to be out of the house, and using my brain for something important.  I think I’d be lost without the adult interaction that going to work provides.

My least favourite thing is just the lack of time.  There’s rarely enough time to make a “real” dinner, and 4 nights a week someone is at dance class.  We get lots of time together on the weekends, but rushed weekdays suck!

What are your goals going forward?

Ideally I would love to cut back my outside-the-home working hours, but I can’t realistically do that without supplementing my income.  This blogging stuff is rumoured to be somewhat lucrative but I haven’t been too successful in monetizing my blog.  I don’t want to quit working though – maybe just do a little less and be home a little more.  If I could be available to the girls after school that would be perfect!

Any tips to share for balance in your life?

Working parents

It’s okay to let some stuff slide.  The laundry won’t always be caught up, and sometimes eating heat-and-eat dinners is just fine.  Be present for your kids but don’t worry that you aren’t always available to them.  Your life is what you make it, and what you need it to be.  Your kids will remember the fun stuff you do together, they won’t care that you didn’t cook a 4 course meal every night!

You can visit me on all the social media platforms – the icons at the top of my blog will take you there.  If you like this idea and want to stay on top of my Working Mom series be sure to subscribe to my blog! 




If you’d like to be featured, email me at modernmom@jessicafoley.ca or visit my contact page for other ways to get in touch.

Stay tuned for my next Working Mom guest – Sarah from Digital Motherhood!

To read all the posts in this series click here for the complete list.

~Jess

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38 Comments

  1. Thanks for the tip! I agree, kids will remember what you did together. Also, I wish that we got an entire year off when we had a baby in the US! That’s awesome.

    1. It is pretty great that we get a year for maternity (or parental) leave. The pay cut is pretty drastic though. Pros and cons to it all I guess. Thanks for the comment!
      ~Jess

  2. Hi Jess, it sounds as if you have a rather hectic life, but at least you do enjoy your job, can you imagine if you didn’t? At times it does feel as if blogging takes over our lives, doesn’t it? I like to think of it as a way of keeping my brain active and ‘meeting’ new people. It would be great if one day you could cut back on your out of house work and supplement your income from home. That would be my dream too.

    Thank you for linking up with the #MMBC.

    xx

  3. I really enjoyed getting a “behind the scenes” look at your working mama-blogger life. I always wonder how blogging moms manage their time and what they sacrifice in order to be that supermom.

    1. I wish I felt like a “supermom”! I try to only sacrifice housework – but my enjoyment of cooking gets sacrificed as well. I’d love to create yummy elaborate meals, but with only about 15 mins to prep something it always has to be quick and easy. Even then my kids only eat it about half the time. Thanks for the comment Chandra!
      ~Jess

  4. Hi Jessica, it was great to read about you. I used to intern as a pharmacy technician. I learned a lot from the experience, although I don’t work in pharmacy now. Are you featuring working moms who work outside of the home only? #globalblogging

    1. Hi Paula! The working moms can be work-from-home moms as well. As long as you devote time in your week to creating an income, I think you qualify as a working mom!
      ~Jess

  5. My kids are grown now, but I was either in graduate school or working full time throughout their younger years. Being a professor, I always spent summers with my kids–and that’s what it seems they remember most. We had a lot of fun together!

    1. I always thought being a teacher of some sort would be a great parent job. Summer’s off and (hopefully) a bit more time in the evenings to create meals and help with homework. I know teachers do a lot of work outside of school hours as well!
      ~Jess

  6. I love reading interviews like this (its probably because I’m quite nosey) Thanks for sharing and joining in with #globalblogging looking forward to reading future posts in the series 🙂

    1. I like reading these sorts of posts as well. I can only hope some people would be comforted or inspired by shared stories. I hope to post once a month in this series, for now. Thanks for reading!
      ~Jess

  7. I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye on this brilliant series! I’m back to work on Monday after number 2 and safe to say I’m a touch nervous about keeping up with everything! #stayclassymama

  8. It’s really hard to do everything at home and at work when you are a working Mom. I know that because I’m also a working Mom:P thanks for sharing with #globalblogging

    1. I’m happy to share. I know how easy it is to feel like you’re the only one out there doing to “do it all.” That’s why I’m blogging now – to share and support others who can’t possibly do it all in their everyday life. Thanks for the comment Selena.
      ~Jess

  9. Oh Wednesday off sounds really nice, I wish the working week was four days (or even three) so that I could spend more time with my son. The maternity/paternity pay sounds decent in Canada as well, although not sure if replacement income is exactly as you would make if you weren’t on maternity leave? This series is fantastic, as a working mum I can completely relate, can’t wait for the next one! Thanks for sharing with #StayClassyMama!

    1. Maternity pay is only a percentage (and I’ve forgotten what percent it is – maybe 60%) of your pay. Some employers offer benefits during that period as well, but mine did not. I’m toying with the idea of making a post looking at maternity/paternity benefits across different countries. Keep an eye on my social media (or subscribe to my newsletter) for my call-outs for information from other places on this one. And thanks for stopping by!

  10. Hello Jessica. I enjoyed reading about you. You are SO right that we have to sometimes let some things slide in order to handle the important stuff. You have a great idea for your blog. I wish you all the best with it, and look forward to reading more profiles vis the BHB group.

    1. Thanks for your kind words Doreen. Keeping balance doesn’t have to be a difficult as it sometimes seems. If the laundry piles up extra, or I don’t sweep the floor after every meal, our lives won’t completely dissolve into chaos. Although sometimes my mind does, knowing I still have those chores waiting for me! 😉

  11. What a refreshing blog. You tell it as it is and I like that.

    I too am a full-time worker and part-time blogger, wife and mother to two children. I am constantly working to get the balance right. I love to write and could easily do this full-time. As you said there is money to be made in blogging – knowing how is the question.

  12. Really enjoyed reading about your work-life balance. It sounds busy but also very fulfilling! I’m also juggling a lot of things. Would love to participate in your series and will try to email you about it when I get time 🙂 Thanks for linking to #EatSleepBlogRT. Hope you join again next week.

    1. I haven’t seen an email from you yet (I don’t think!) If I remember, I shoot you an email later today to see if you’re still interested. Thanks for the comment!
      ~Jess

  13. This is such a great Idea, with the new month I have launched a new series as well where I feature bloggers from various niches on my blog to share their stories 🙂

    1. I think having a series on your blog is a great way to keep you fresh, and have some reliable content ready to go! I wish you much success with your niche series!
      ~Jess

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