workin'mama

Everybody needs a little spring break in their life, right?  Well, Lillie rolled into my work life yesterday to enjoy a spring break from her "school".  We had a great day and for the first time I gained clarity on something I had mentally been struggling with for a bit.  It is almost impossible to be working and mommy at the same time.

{A quick note here- I have gained the utmost respect for those moms who do work from home with their wee ones by their side.  How do you ever get anything done?  Honestly, you amaze me.}

Being a working mom is funny.  It requires you to compartmentalize.  You must be as close to 100% focused on the task that is directly in front of you as possible.  And, you will be more successful at whatever you are doing if you can ignore your other 'maybe more important' responsibilities.

I know that I'm better at what I do because I'm a mom.  As a mom, it is so much easier to put my college kids' lives before their paperwork & sales.  I am certainly more protective of them.  I think I now look at each one of them as someone's son or daughter.  In a way, I see them through their own mom's eyes, and I absolutely love the way each one of them shines in that light.

Going to work every day is terribly hard.  I leave my baby in the hands of another woman.  I trust that someone else is going to love her to the best of their ability- and that has to be good enough.  I walk in the door of my office and suddenly feel that same responsibility.  I have 20 children in front of me and they all have mom's who trust that I'm going to love their babes to the best of my ability.  I feel honored to have that opportunity.

It took me almost 9 months, but I'm back to loving my job.  I hate leaving Lillie more than anything.  However, I've learned that the sadness of leaving my baby doesn't have to affect my joy when I walk into my work life each morning.

...a workin'mama epiphany.