M.O.D.

I have just found out a friend has just had baby No. 3.  She is recuperating in hospital after a C-section on Saturday.  My thoughts are with her as I remember the pain and lack of sleep which accompanied Jonty's birth.  One afternoon when my C-section scar was still only 2 days old, The Accountant came wandering in to spend time with mother and baby and commented that Jonty looked a bit like Mr. Magoo.  The pain of trying not to laugh still haunts me to this day.  It is right up there with sneezing and coughing after a major operation.

I was also remembering how much easier it was knowing that my role as a new mother included entirely devoting all of my time to raising my children.  A newborn baby is so time-consuming that you notice little else.  However, after about seven weeks I was ready to don my dance gear and get into the studio again.

Now it is different.  Baby is now about 21 months old, and I have two big boys at school.  But since I do not have 25 hours of dance work waiting, I have been unwittingly sucked into housewifeliness.
It goes like this:

1.  Take care of children.
2.  Operate family taxi/walking service.
3.  Domestic duties (53 of them).
(Numbers 4 - 26 other stuff).
27.  Make dance classes for current work.
28.  Find a job.

Unfortunately in the real world there is no solution to the work/life balance.  There are either women drowning not waving or those who are just getting on with it they best way they can.  
Otherwise it would be like this:
M.O.D. "Hello Ministry of Dance can I help you?"
Me: "Yes please.  I would like a terrific dance artist job which combines my skills as dancer/teacher/choreographer in the Camberwell area."
M.O.D. "Are you a mother?  Would you like flexible hours?"
Me: "Yes that would be great.  I need to be able to pick up the boys from school.  Jonty only goes to childcare 2 mornings a week.  So would need to be pending the place around the corner...."
M.O.D. "We'll fix all that for you and get back to you with about 20 hours of stimulating dance work.  How does that sound?"
Me: "Great!  Thanks a lot. See you next week."