One Secret to a Working Mom Success: Make Family Events More Enjoyable With Friends

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Better Together: Why Inviting Another Family Makes Activities More Fun #FamilyFun Sometimes family activities can feel like another item on the to-do list. However, doing those activities with another family makes them more fun! Whether it’s a trip to an amusement park , a visit to the local pool , or trip to a pumpkin patch , including another family can multiply the fun in amazing ways. One of my favorite moms to collaborate with is my friend, Ayana Ledford who's pictured above with her daughter Sahar. We have done all of the things listed as seemingly random examples above and here is how including her and her daughter (and sometimes her son too) has made the events more fun. On the date above, Ayana almost left the venue because parking was a nightmare. That said, she hung in there and we would up having a great time!
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Working Mom Tip: Count Your Blessings, Especially During the Holidays

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Captivated by the trains at Phipps Conservatory
Photo credit: Ann Lehman
This past week I was on a Facebook page that I follow where one of the moms was venting. She was complaining that some moms whine to her about their lives when they actually have much more support than she does. She said that she and her husband were raising their kids completely by themselves and they had absolutely no help!

We'll put her privilege to the side for a second. The group is for lawyer mothers. So, at the start, she is probably more privileged than most mothers. Still, her comments resonated because I know that I am more than a little guilty of whining on my blog about my parenting struggles. Still, it's important to remember that everyone's problems are real and can be overwhelming. regardless of their support system.

Indeed, on Monday at my doctor's appointment, I nearly burst out in tears from the sheer weight of being pregnant, being sick and being tired. The only thing that kept the tears at bay was the fact that I work for the same system that provides my care and I needed to keep it together!

Public Acknowledgement of My Support System

As I mentioned above this past week, I've had the cold from hell. I even missed work because of being sick. Also, our son has been off from preschool. Apparently, private school is more rigorous than public school and require an additional week of decompression time. Our daughter has been mad all week that she has had to go to school and has yelled, "It's not fair!" more than a few times this week. Who can blame her, right?!

Despite being sick and my son being off from school I haven't been too stressed because my mother-in-law and husband's aunt have been watching our son. Indeed, as I have battled this sickness for the better part of two weeks, I have been relieved of a great deal of my child care responsibilities. I have had the luxury of being able to rest and fight this thing so that I can get my strength and energy back to push this baby out in three weeks. 

I will be eternally grateful for the love, fun, and adventures that my son has enjoyed this week. He's enjoyed it so much he actually wants to move to their house. However, I am mom enough that his desire to do so doesn't make me feel at all insecure. Indeed, if I don't shake this cold all of the way by tomorrow, I might just pack his bag!

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