I’m thankful for my village
When we got married, and Logan and I started discussing adding to our newly-created family, the first thing that came to mind was, “How the heck am I going to fit having a child into an already-busy schedule?”
When Logan and I met almost five years ago, I had spent my entire adult life up to that point buried in my work, then this gorgeous man showed up and shook things up when he made me realize there was more to life than working a couple of jobs to make ends meet. I know some people thought I was crazy when I announced that we were adding to our family more than two years ago, but I knew this was what was right for us. And I could not be happier that we were blessed with the most beautiful, intelligent little girl in the whole world. Not that I’m biased or anything.
But still, here we are with a 1.5-year-old, and I still have a crazy career that pulls me away more often than I care to admit. Some days, I cannot stand the guilt, but mostly I just drag Logan and Cici along with me for forced family days while I have a camera and pen in hand.
We rely on my sister a lot to help out, adding to her already large brood of three boys. My in-laws and friends are always on standby in case a story comes in when I’m alone with my little one.
But, more times than I can count, I’ve brought my daughter into work with me and my coworkers have helped me keep a curious toddler entertained (and full of chocolate) while I got some work done. My work family loves her almost as much as I do, and she hardly ever leaves this building without something sweet or fluffy that she didn’t have before.
Although, it’s not just these wonderful people that I work with in this office who make it easier for me to be a career woman and a mother, it’s the awesome people I meet in the community as well.
A few weeks ago, I brought Logan and Cici with me to snap some photos as the recent Master Gardener’s Flower and Patio Show. As soon as we walked in the door, the ladies that I think of as friends after spending a few years covering their organization’s events were swooning over Cici. We got to the kid’s booth, where Master Gardener Nancy Brinson announced she had been waiting on me, then proceeded to dedicate her time and talents (and patience) to helping Cici put together a Mother’s Day gift for me.
We also got to see our favorite Master Gardener that weekend, Becky Jackson. She is a long-time friend of the family who also happens to have been one of the nurse’s who helped bring our little one into this world, as she was on-call the night Cici was born and we had to have an unplanned surgery.
There are so many examples of our community stepping up to make me feel like I can be a mom and a career woman, but one of the more surprising to me happened at the opening weekend of the Farmers Market.
While I was making my rounds at the market for photos, I ran into a couple of people who I had been trying to track down for my Senior Connections story about the upcoming walking program through GCGH’s TeamOrtho.
As I was interviewing TeamOrtho’s Director of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Michelle Helms, Cici fell on her butt and started to whine. In the bright morning sun, she accidentally wondered over to Michelle instead of me, but that didn’t phase her. Michelle picked up my toddler, held her and coddled her bruised ego while we finished talking about the details for my story. (Check out the Summer Senior Fit and Fun event story online, by the way.)
We live in a world where mothers are often looked down on for trying to juggle too much, between their families and workload. There are so many times I wonder myself if I’m doing the right thing by following my own dream and all the while forcing my child to come along for the ride. But, in this little community, I’m constantly reminded that no matter what I choose, my village will be there to support me.
Sabrina is the editor of the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached at sabrinagcdw@gmail.com.
- -- Posted by Mchelle88 on Wed, Jun 5, 2019, at 11:17 AM
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