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Shelley Churchill '89 and Peter Gross '90 with Clara June. "There are some days where I really want to stay and work because the work is really interesting, but I can't always do that," Shelley says.
PHOTO BY MARK CHARETTE |
Finding time for two?
When Shelley Churchill '89 and Peter Gross '90 brought Clara June home from China, Shelley knew something had to give. She loved her job as a consultant for Ernst and Young, but she traveled all the time. Peter traveled a lot, too, as a software consultant for nonprofit organizations. She switched to consulting in a different area of expertise so she could work in Washington, D.C., but she hated it. Staying home wasn't a choice. "I'm actually the [principal] breadwinner," Shelley says, "so for me going back to work wasn't an option."
With encouragement from Peter, she struck out on her own as an independent consultant. "I was used to working 55 hours a week when I was childless. What I discovered is that you really can't do that with a small child. It's really, really hard to fit more than 8 or 9 hours in a day." But now that her business is on its feet, she's glad she took the risk. "If I was in a job that I hated, that's just unbearable because you're not at home with your kid and you're at a job you hate." One of her biggest adjustments to motherhood is not being able to put work first. "There are some days where I really want to stay and work because the work is really interesting, but I can't always do that."
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'I was used to working 55 hours a week when I was childless. What I discovered is that you really can't do that with a small child.' |
Because both Shelley and Peter work, they have made taking care of Clara June an equal partnership. "We have to do it equally since we both work full time," says Peter. The other key to their work-family juggling act is finding time to take care of themselves as individuals, "We've developed a pretty good workout schedule," notes Peter. But like most of the families I interviewed (and my own family as well), "I don't think we've found a good balance of finding time for the two of us," Peter laments. Even with a well-oiled system, Shelley admits, "some days I feel like I've got it under control, other days I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails." But that isn't stopping them from beginning the process to adopt a second child from China.
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