Finding a Healthy Balance at Home

I wanted so much for our home to be a place of warmth, safety, and mutual support for our family. Instead, after returning to work full-time outside the home, I found myself feeling resentful toward my family members. I felt like I was carrying too many of the household responsibilities. I needed help and support for things to run more smoothly. Then I remembered that I could apply the principle of finding a healthy balance through a division of labor as described in Tradition Eight. I identified specific tasks for which I could use help from other members of the family. One idea that I shared seemed to resonate with my boys: “We all, adults and kids alike, have work to do, and all of us are needed in this family.” Sometimes they seemed to get it, and when they didn’t, I tried to remember the slogan “Progress, not Perfection.” All I know is that our household functioned so much better when we each did our part, so that no one person was trying to do it all. Sharing and com­municating about these responsibilities were ways that we learned to express our love, respect, and appreciation for each other.

Reprinted from S-Anon Twelve Traditions, pages 111-112.