Louise's blog: Snow laughing matter

As we emerge from one of the worst spells of weather the UK has witnessed in decades, I can finally reflect on one of the most stressful weeks of my working life.

Usually, I just about manage to keep a good balance between my role as a partner in the London office of a US law firm and my role as mum to two gorgeous children, aged 7 and 5. Between school, activity clubs, incredibly helpful parents and a superstar husband we keep all the plates spinning and I feel pretty happy with my lot.

But with the “severe weather conditions”, my two worlds collided with a bang.  Three snow days had us all cooped up in the house, the minus 5 temperature meaning playing out in the snow wasn’t an option for long.  In a perfect world, I would have had all day to make crafts, bake cakes, paint pottery and practice spelling with my children. But the reality was quite different. Client demands don’t stop with the bad weather, especially within a global practice.  A succession of calls, emails and client requests meant that I was holed up in my study, maniacally gesturing and shooshing every time the kids came in during an important call.  They couldn’t understand why mummy wasn’t available to play with them all day long.  “You’re always working”, “please can you leave your work calls for just a second to play”, “you care about work more than us” - all started to eat away at me and the working-mother guilt set in.  Equally, the frequent distractions and interruptions meant that I was doing the necessary in my job, but not the extras that I would have time for in the office, with everyone in their rightful place.  A rubbish mum and a rubbish lawyer?  It certainly felt like it to me.

But perhaps not. In fact, now that we have emerged into the sunlight and melting snow, I have decided to give myself a break. The kids were warm, fed and watered and had access to lots of toys games and Netflix (we didn’t have that in the 80’s!).  All my clients’ needs were met without complaint, and without the commute I was online earlier in the morning and later in the evening.  The ironing is up to date for once and we had some really good laughs as a family with the break in routine.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be glad when they are back at school this week and life gets back to normal. But rather than striving for constant perfection as a parent and as a professional, I’ve accepted that sometimes “just enough” is good enough.

Louise is a partner in a law firm, mum to two gorgeous children aged 7 and 5, and long-standing member of WorkLife Central which she credits for keeping her sane.

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• Families