I am at the height of crazy busy-ness in my job. I work as a lobbyist at the Connecticut General Assembly and with exactly one week left of the legislative session, there is a mad rush to get hundreds of proposed legislation passed before session ends on June 5th. Marie totally nailed what life is like right now for us moms at the legislature: the numerous late nights (I did a dance of joy for leaving at the very “early” hour of 9:30 pm last night), living through marathon House and Senate debates, and consuming lots (I mean lots!) of take-out food. This also means that my little dumpling is being raised exclusively by her father as I work 15 hour days – for about four weeks straight!

Right now, I am not thinking, “Are my kid’s teeth being brushed? Who’s doing daycare pick-up?” and “How am I going to get this kid to go to sleep?” Those duties have all been relegated to my husband, who has taken them on without complaint. Instead, I have legislation, amendments, and roll call votes on the brain all the time (even in my sleep people!). In fact, many of us moms liken session to childbirth: once it’s over you totally forget the pain, the meaningful legislation you helped pass is the happy newborn, and you go on to do it all over again.

As challenging as the past few weeks have been, there are a couple of GREAT things to come out of my absence in the evenings: 1.)The bond between my husband and daughter has noticeably strengthened. My daughter has gotten used to my husband putting her to bed and now she frequently requests only daddy’s presence at bedtime (cue Hallelujah choir). 2.) My husband is starting to master the fine art of keeping house. I have come home several nights to find him emptying the dishwasher and doing laundry. Woo.Hoo. These tidbits of joy have enabled me to focus most of my concentration and energy on my work without having to suffer much mom-guilt. If anything, this is teaching everyone strength and resiliency.

Parenting by text. Way to go Mother of the Year!

I am fortunate to have a supportive spouse to take over the mom reins for just a short period of time. And while our unique situation will be over in a week, I cannot help but wonder about the hard-working moms and dads who frequently work overtime to support their families.

Any moms out there work overtime or experience an intense work-related project that has taken all your strength and focus, leaving you very little time to think about being a mommy? I’d love to hear your story.

Wishing all the moms (and dads) in Connecticut who work at the General Assembly a productive and relatively painless (HA HA HA) final week of session. You are all rock stars!

Ok, maybe she’s not all that thrilled with mommy working overtime?