Thanks for visiting my blog. Back when I first envisioned this blog we were living in San Francisco. I was trying to juggle being a full-time working mom with two young kids and that seemed challenging on its own. Fast forward 3 years and I am still a mommy who wishes she were Urban, but was transported to Suburban life in Marin. Now I am (sub)Urban Mommy trying to juggle jobs, kids and a long daily commute. I am often a good employee; hopefully sometimes a good mommy; and try my best to be a good spouse. My blog shares candid stories that working moms can relate to. My blog is a journey of how I am trying to do it all...sometimes successfully, other times I fall flat on my face. My blog is a journey of my desire to try and find some balance in my life physically/mentally for me and definitely for my family. I invite you to laugh and cry with me as you read about some of my most embarrassing mommy moments as well as some of the humbling realizations that trying to be all for everyone all the time can have some really negative consequences.
It seems like my very first post should be a recap of how I got to where I am today and the challenges that I face as a full-time working mom. I graduated from law school in 2002 and was working for one of the largest law firms in the world. It wasn’t long before I realized that (1) I liked being a law student far more than I liked being a lawyer and (2) I did not like the type of law I was practicing. Switching firms didn’t help. At the end of 2003, I met my husband and by October 2004 I was engaged and pregnant (yes, in the same weekend). I didn’t have an easy pregnancy and was taking a lot of time off of work, which didn’t sit well with my new firm, so I decided to quit. I was committed to having a peaceful pregnancy, not a stressed out one. I had read all the books and joined mothers groups, certain that if I did yoga and took pottery classes, I would have this amazingly peaceful child who slept through the night and was happy all the time. I look back now and laugh at how naive I was at age 34.
For those moms who paid their way through college/grad school, you know how painful those loans can be, I graduated with just shy of $170,000 in school loans – yes, the price of a decent house in many parts of the country. Had I stayed in the big law firm, with the big salary, managing the payments would’ve been okay…but with more than 8 years of payments and many more to go, the loans have been a thorn in my side. I am not sure if I would’ve been the best stay-at-home mom, but I haven’t had the option of testing those waters, so onward I go through this maze of mommy mayhem.
Over the past six years I have straddle the line between legal work and the fitness world, which is my true passion. I have been in work and out of work and juggled family finances to make things work during the lean times. I have juggled multiple jobs with lengthy commutes while trying to be a room parent and the co-president of the PTL. I have volunteered for fundraisers, classroom events and field trips hoping this would offset my being at work while my kids’ friends moms dropped them off at school and picked them up each day.
When we lived in San Francisco, so many of the families had both parents working and we were always within 10 minutes of the kids, so even though it was always chaotic, it seemed manageable. The move to Marin, albeit so wonderful for the kids, has adding a degree of chaos that I could have never imagined. While “seemingly” healthy and totally together, again – I stress SEEMINGLY, I have had some eye opening experiences about my health, my kids, my marriage and what really makes me happy in life.
Being a working mom, has equated to some seriously hysterical, embarrassing and tear filled moments. I invite you on this journey as I try to create balance for myself and my family, try to cherish moments with my kids more, try to spend more time with my husband and try to recognize that, at the end of the day, I can’t always be Superwoman.
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