Are your kids in school? Daycare? Who cares for them What keeps your plate full these days?
They are both school age right now. I get to drop them off every morning. My husband is a high school teacher and football and track coach. During the winter, his off-season, he picks them up from school. During fall and spring, my mom, mother in law or grandma pick the kids up and take them home.
What keeps your plate full? What do you “do”?
I get to lead a team of 11 at our local bank. I’m also a lender, focusing mostly on commercial and agricultural loans. I live in a growing, rural town, where my husband and I both grew up and my job keeps me very busy.
Do you work because you want to or need to?
Both! I love my job, but when you’re married to a high school teacher and coach, you also “have” to work to help support the family financially. :) My job fulfills me and I enjoy having something I feel successful at. I also love being able to help our community grow. I think it’s important for our kids to see that both my husband and I can be passionate about our jobs while also being passionate about them.
What does your day to day look like?
After a little quiet time, I get the kids up around 6:30. I am able to drop them off at school every morning before heading to work. I work in the office five days a week. My kids get picked up from school by their dad, one of our parents or my grandma and are taken to our house or to an activity. My daughter plays one sport and has weekly piano lessons. My son plays three different sports right now. So if we aren’t at a practice or game, and if it’s not a church night, I get home from work a little after 5 and cook dinner. Some nights we try to throw in a family game night before getting the kids to bed to do it all again the next day.
How does being a working mom impact your kids — either positively or negatively?
Honestly, it’s been a mix of both. The summer is harder for them because my husband is able to spend so much time with them since everyone is off school. A lot of our friends are teachers, so sometimes, especially when they were younger, they didn’t understand why I couldn’t be at home with them during the summer, too. However, they are starting to realize the importance of my career. My daughter’s grade had a Career Day last year and she was very proud to invite me to her school to talk about my job. I think that as they continue to grow, it will have more of a positive impact on them.
What holds the biggest tension in trying to manage everything?
Feeling like there’s not enough of me to go around, especially when it comes to the kids and my husband.
What’s one resource that would make your life easier?
A laundry fairy. Ha! How does it pile up so quickly?!
How would you encourage other working moms who are overwhelmed?
Do what you love! I love my career, but I haven’t always been able to say that. What I do every day fulfills me and that makes a huge difference in my attitude and approach to being a working mom.
And, grace, grace, grace. Being a working mom is HARD. Give yourself grace to not do all the things everyone else is doing. Give yourself grace to order take out again this week. Give yourself grace when you go to bed and wonder if you were able to spend any quality time with your kids that day. Grace!
Any last words for working moms?
I think sometimes working moms are made to feel less than because they want to or enjoy working. You can do both – you can love you kids and your job. You can even be great at your job and great at being a mom. It’s OK to love both simultaneously!
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