Reconciable Differences?

Watching Grey's Anatomy this week, what intrigued me more than the love triangles or crazy surgeries was the story line about working mothers balancing their careers and their family. Although I don't plan on getting married or having kids for quite some time, I still think about this. The more real this lawyer thing is becoming as I slave away in law school, the more I think about what kind of complete life I want to have.

It took me a while to realize that the family set up I grew up with, became accustomed to, and naturally want to have is not as typical as I once thought. My dad left in the morning the same time we did, and was home every day at 5:30pm in time for dinner. He volunteered as a lineman for our soccer games and helped us with our homework. My mom worked part time for most of my childhood so she was usually there to take us to our sports practices, 4-H meetings, piano lessons and much more. We had a homecooked dinner together most nights and I remember being absolutely shocked when we took a survey of my 9th grade class and I was only one of 3 students in our perfect little suburbia who usually ate dinner as a family. Even if my mom had to work an afternoon, evening or weekend shift at the hospital, I always felt like she was there to take care of us.

So I guess when I hear about the types of hours lawyers have, I do have to admit that I get a little apprehensive. Maybe its too much to wish for the atypical nuclear family setup that I had growing up, but I wonder if I can get close as a lawyer. Is it possible to reconcile these two seemingly different types of lifestyles?

I guess only time will tell and I shouldn't be worrying about this (that's another childhood habit ingrained in my head). What I really should be thinking about is studying for finals. So much for my "tv study break." Even a silly doctor show makes me think about the law and how it will play in my future.