Can we make a day last 34 hours?

My parents, kids, husband, and mother-in-law

Many of us have asked the question, "Can we stretch a 24 hour day?"  In my late teens to early twenties, I needed that extra time for college assignments, my job and my internship.... not to mention I tried to have a social life.  In my mid 20's to 30's it was all about career.  I needed more hours in the day to finish that investigative report or break a news story. Because of my career, I moved a lot and needed extra hours to learn about the community where I lived.  Yuma, Charlotte, Phoenix, and Dallas all had interesting sites to explore. This was also the time where I got married and added the title of wife to my profile.

Then, sometime in my 30's I took a look at my biological clock, it was time for family before it tick toked away.  I love being a mom to two beautiful girls.  The baby and toddler years required long days and little sleep.  I don't really think it matters if you're a working mom or stay at home mom.  Unless you have hired or volunteer help, you're not getting a whole lot of zzzzzz's.

The title to Liz O’Donnell's book, Mogul, Mom,& Maid is great. It captures it all.  Her book tells stories from moms from all walks of life and looks at how they juggle it all. Of course we moms know it's a balancing act.  One of the things she advises is to get more sleep.  It's good advice, but hard to follow.

Now, as I try to struggle with the kids' activities and work, I find my parents and mother-in-law aging. My husband and I are the turkey, the peanut butter and jelly, the Nutella, the meatballs, or whatever else you decide to put on your sandwich.  We are the Sandwich generation. But according to www.caregiver.org it's mostly the women being the caregivers.

• Estimates of the percentage of family or informal caregivers who are women range from 59% to 75%.¹
• The average caregiver is age 46, female, married and working outside the home.²
• Although men also provide assistance, female caregivers may spend as much as 50% more time providing care than male caregivers.³

Of course my husband helps, he's my rock, he's very supportive,  but I take on most of the care giving scheduling and responsibilities.

I've also decided to take Graduate courses.  It's something I've always wanted to do and never did until now.  As a reporter I was learning new things everyday in a profession I love.  So in 2015 I'm back at school to get my Masters.  I want to teach and give back to young journalists.

Which brings me back to my subject line, "Can we make a day last 34 hours?"  Of course the answer is no, but we in the Sandwich Generation can learn to let go and figure out when good enough is perfect.  In my following posts, I'll try to figure it out and give tips along the way. Maybe we can find ways to get inspired and magically stretch 24 hours into 34.
Thank you for reading.

References:
¹Arno, P. S. (2002, February). The economic value of informal caregiving, U.S., 2000. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.
²National Alliance for Caregiving, & AARP. Family caregiving in the U.S.: Findings from a national survey. Washington, DC.
³Family Caregiver Alliance. (2001). Selected Caregiver Statistics (Fact Sheet). San Francisco, CA: Author.