Nancy Matos

Reader question: Transporting kids to and from school is an important part of the juggle for many readers, especially those who work outside the home and who can't dash off at 2:30 in the afternoon to pick up the kids.

What does juggle actually mean here?

You probably guessed that the readers described in the above example are not literally taking their kids in one hand, throwing them up in the air, and then switching them with the other hand, which is holding a car and an office building, much like a clown would do at a circus with three balls. But if you imagine what the clown has to do in order to keep those three balls in the air and moving from each hand without falling, that is what is trying to be said with the use of “juggle”.

It can be difficult being a working parent and dealing with the responsibilities and tasks that come with it. Dropping off your kids at school, going to work, and making sure you leave work in time to pick up your kids when they are done school for the day can be very tiring and hard to do! That is why it is a juggle—trying to do all those things at once is a challenge. And just like keeping juggling balls in the air, it can be tough. Much like the act of juggling is to keep your eyes on the balls and hope they don’t fall, as a parent, you want to make sure you can get your kids to school on time, and yourself to work on time too, without any problems. This would also apply to students who have to juggle homework and a part-time job, yet still make time for seeing friends.

To put it simply, to juggle is being able to manage different requirements/duties. If you can do it all, like a juggling circus clown, that is a special talent!

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Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.