Happy hour guilt

Sometimes I leave work at 4:30 and have a margarita. This is called Happy Hour, and it generally is just that - a single, happy, hour with friends from work. At 5:30, I must depart to pick up the munchkin from daycare.

Since my morning started with a 7am conference call, a lunch meeting (at least lunch was provided), and it's now 10:30pm and I'm still working (taking a short break to blog about it), and tomorrow starts with another 7:30am call, and then my sacred 2 hours of 2-hour-momness is being unforgiveably interrupted for a call with a VP who happens to be on a trip to Asia therefore her schedule trumps mine, apparently, I think I deserved to leave work at 4:30 and have a margarita. But I still feel guilty about taking that hour away from staring at my keyboard frantically trying to keep up with the incoming emails.

So as I think about this, and type about this, I'm noticing a trend among our posts. 2-hour moms sure carry a lot of guilt. Perhaps we need to work on asking for help. Delegating. Expecting more of other people, instead of expecting everything from ourselves.

I got SO angry with my husband yesterday when he hollered down from the balcony, "Are the sheets done in the washer? Can you move them to the dryer?" Are you kidding? Have I ever asked him to do part of a chore that I started? No. I do my own damn chores. I clean up for the housekeeper (I used to really make fun of my mom for that when I was a kid, but now I get it. No, she is NOT here to pick up my crap. She is here to clean the things that otherwise would never get cleaned by me, like toilets and floors).

Obviously, I came to the realization that I was never actually going to clean my own house that having someone else do that level of cleaning was worth my money. And we agreed that instead of spending every summer Saturday mowing and weeding the lawn, a lawn service could that for us so we could PLAY on our lawn. So my brain gets that it's okay to exchange money for time-saving services. But to ask someone else to help with something, and not have anything to offer in return just seems impossible.

I have team members that I've handed projects to who have done *nothing* on them, forcing me to do the work anyway. I feel like they should do these things simply because I asked them to and they agreed, but I really have nothing to offer them for completing these projects other than a big huge "thanks" for allowing me to get other work done. That seems like not a very good reason to press them to complete the projects. Hubby made dinner tonight, therefore HE should clean up the kitchen (since he makes me clean up when I cook). But he's on a 10pm conference call, and I know he won't do it before the housekeeper gets here tomorrow.

So how do we get things done without actually having to do them ALL ourselves?

• I think the housekeeper might just have to clean up the kitchen tomorrow.
• I think the team members might just need a reminder that they agreed to take on these projects.
• I think I will continue to take a Happy Hour every now and then to have a guilt-free moment.
• And I think I will go to bed early tonight.