Working Moms

“Work-Life Balance" We’ve all heard the phrase before. Whether you are a full-time or part-time businesswoman, you may have often struggled with what this phrase means to you as a new or seasoned mom. I always thought that work and motherhood should be separate, that the two should never overlap. But what if this type of thinking is flawed? What if happiness didn’t come from balancing the two on opposite sides of the spectrum, never letting them collide? What I learned about myself through two maternity leaves is that to be the best mom I can be, I need to work. I not only love what I do, I enjoy the creative culture and the people at my office. My 9-to-5 allows for...

A few weeks ago I was visiting a craft store and whipped out my teacher ID so I could get my meager discount. After the cashier asked me about my contents and explaining they were indeed NOT for classroom, he posed a very interesting question: “What do teachers do all summer?” In case you, your kids, or the person working the register at Hobby Lobby are wondering, here’s what we do. Catching up It’s finally time to do everything we’ve been putting off during the school year. That includes doctor / dentist appointments, trips to the DMV and in my case, finally unpacking the last boxes from our move six months ago. Yes, as teachers we get holidays but most of...

Motherhood is tough, no doubt about it. As if there isn't enough to worry about with our kids, we also have to worry about hiding the Tide pods from our teenagers, and I recently found out that there’s a condom snorting challenge?! On top of school violence, and oh you know, just the regular everyday illnesses that can affect our kids, I am over it!! This motherhood thing is so darn hard. I'm amazed that moms are not wandering around in some Apocalypse Now daze. It's hard to believe that some people actually question why moms are on anti-anxiety medication. You need them even if you haven't been medically diagnosed ... it’s called survival!! I got pregnant for my oldest son...

Recently and for the fourth time in my life, I had a baby and returned to work. Sure, saying goodbye to my baby when I dropped her off to the sitter was difficult. Certainly getting back into the busy routine was challenging. Of course having to put on real clothes was an obstacle. But you know what was the worst part of it all? Having to to dust off and and reunite with the ol' bag pump. The nursing pump. The bane of working mothers the world over! The blight of dedicated mothers struggling with latching! The burden of moms of preemies! And simultaneously the salvation for all of these situations. Yes, it's a love / hate relationship with that...

If you work or have kids or are a breathing human being, mornings come every day. Every.Single.Day. And, even for the most morning of morning person, finding a routine to kick off your day can be a challenge. Well, I think I’ve found my magic morning combo. And tricky enough, it actually starts with a nighttime routine. I blogged about a nightly brain dump last month. That’s where it starts. I’ve also set up a “bedtime” routine in my iPhone. There are multiple apps for this same purpose; I’m a big fan of Sleep Cycle as well! I know that 7 hours is a minimum sleep total for me to function. So, if I’m not in bed by 10:30pm, my...