Despite what many people may think, we do have distinct seasons in southern California, and springtime is no exception.  These days, the evening air is filled with the aroma of night blooming jasmine and we leave our windows open at night and awake to calm, cool morning air. The kids have emerged from their houses and are riding bikes around the cul de sac and searching for bugs.   At morning drop off, I stop to smell the heavenly scent of orange blossoms in the preschool play yard.  For all of us, the new season brings a slew of holidays, among them, Passover and Easter.  At Passover, Jews are called to remember that “We were slaves in Egypt.”  It is a call for empathy and appreciation.  Easter harkens rebirth and a time to reflect and recommit. My daughter and I have checked on the camellia bushes in the schoolyard everyday for the past month, waiting for the buds to open.  As if by some magic, one morning, the buds had opened to reveal beautiful crimson-pink flowers and my daughter squealed with delight.  There is a renewed joy in the air.  It’s spring cleaning for the soul.

Motherhood isn’t only about birth, it’s about rebirth and seeing the world with new eyes, like the first time your child tastes chocolate or sees rain.  There are always new opportunities in motherhood.  There are the new physical changes that we see in our children with each passing month and in our own bodies as we grow older.  There are the developmental milestones of a child’s first step, first word, first lost tooth.  There are also the smaller, everyday opportunities – miracles – that are so easily overlooked.  At this time of year, more than any other, I’m aware of the miracles all around us.  My girls love to blow bubbles in the yard when spring comes.  Everyday miracles are found in the bubbles  floating up into the trees and in the little rainbows in puddles of bubble soap on the lawn.  They are found in the endless parade of ants circling our picnic blanket and the squirrel wrestling with the birdfeeder.

When the clocks change and spring arrives, it feels like there is more time in the day to play, more creativity in planning meals, more fun to be had.  I am reminded that I must always strive for balance, even though it’s also a busy season at work.  In my mind I conjure up the image of a seesaw – my work life at one end and my family life at the other.  You’d be hard pressed to find a seesaw on a playground these days.  I think they’ve been banned for safety reasons because really, the balance could never be maintained for very long and one child (work? family?) would fall off, sometimes with serious consequences.    In keeping with this analogy, I’ve come to believe that work-life “balance” is a fallacy.  It seems like the more we focus on work-life balance, the more pressure we’re putting on ourselves to achieve balance.  Now how many working mothers really need to add to their “to do” lists?!?  In this season of more light, more play, more time, I challenge every working mother not to focus on achieving balance, but rather to recommit to both work and family, to having the best of both worlds, to taking the time to witness everyday miracles.