The Working Mom Gap
The kind of working mother you are.
Vs.
The kind of working mother you want to be.
You want to be the working mom that goes on school field trips, bakes cookies for the bake sale, goes to all the soccer practices, makes a home-cooked organic meal lovingly crafted with produce from your garden, rocks 4-inch heels, gets her hair trimmed on schedule, pays all the bills on time, socks money away in savings, has a firm ass, goes on 5-star vacations and has the adoration of her kids, her husband and her boss.
Reality?
You’re the working mom who goes on one field trip a year (if that - and it’s only because you wanted to visit the planetarium anyway), buys cookies from the store for the bake sale if you actually remember, you go to soccer games but miss practice, you cook at home a few times a week, go out for dinner the rest. You have a “garden” full of beautiful plants, they might be weeds. You embrace flat shoes, trim your own hair when it gets unbearably scraggly, have $26 in savings, dreams of a firm ass – or might be able to call it firm if you flex it hard enough. You staycation and have the adoration of your kids, your husband and your boss.
See what happened there?
Your husband, kids and boss still adore you. (wink)
They don’t give a rats ass about the kind of person you want to be.
They only care about the person you are…right now, and that you're there.
That you show up and wear your hat. Your mom hat, your wife hat, your amazing PowerPoint presenter hat.
So what do you do when the vision you hold for yourself is so far from reality it makes your heart hurt?
You adjust your vision, your reality, or both.
Want to grow a garden but are lacking time, or just don’t know where to start? Get your veggies from your local farmer’s market, plant one herb in a pot, and feel damn good about it.
Ask your kid how soccer practice was. Then look him in the eye, drop your smartphone and listen to him through the whole story of how he kicked the ball, scored on the coach. Listen until he's done.
Do 10 squats every morning while you brush your teeth. Instant firm ass….even if it’s just padded.
Make no changes, and make peace with reality. The people you care about love you.
Make a tiny tweak to one area of your life at a time. Feel good about it.
Redefine what good means to you. Feel good about it.
Remember, you don’t need to be the best wife / mom / employee in the world. Feel good about who you are, today.
Close the gap.
What tweak will you make today to close the gap between being the person you are and the person you want to be?
