A dream I never knew I wanted compromising a career I felt I needed. I always thought I wanted kids. I didn’t really know how much of a dream it was until I found my husband.
Being a veterinarian can be a very demanding job and having children at the same time can sometimes feel like a tug of war. You can never give your all to one, but you can give some to all.
The guilt when juggling both motherhood and caring for our patients can wear any Veterinarian down. This is no way to continue.
Can we truly satisfy our children and our clients?
Yes, we can, boundaries need to be set.
We are an 8-hour veterinarian but a 24-hour mother. Meaning that while we are veterinarians we are not defined by this, we are not only a veterinarian. It is a job that we come, perform, do a damn good job at and go home.
At home, we are a mother and the demand is 24 hours long. If they need to eat, we are there. If they are up all night, we are there. This leaves our hearts in a direction we never imagined.
With our schedules, we either are expected or feel we need to miss many things in our children’s lives because we are veterinarians.
There are moms that say they can do it, that they can easily manage the house, the 40-50 hours a week, the kids but we all know they are struggling just like everyone else. Social media paints a beautiful picture of it being easy, but it isn’t.
So how do I juggle it? How do I make my days not stressful?
Well, news flash my days are stressful, I have difficulty juggling my home, kids, and job.
I am trying to continue to pursue the career I want with my children, which mind you has changed since before them, while the daycare continues to call because one of them is vomiting.
It isn’t easy, we struggle, we try but in the end, something has to give. You don’t have to give something you love up, but you have to find the boundaries to set and make sure they aren’t crossed.
If that is your hours, the type of job, the location, the schooling of your children, your boss, anything to help your exhaustion then do it.
We shouldn’t have to feel penalized for being mothers and we should be able to have a balance in our home life and careers to be able to do both.
