Something's Gotta Give

Source: http://ipcconsultants.blogspot.com/2012/05/somethings-gotta-give.html

As the third part of the Holding On To You series, this post features an interview with a young dental student who is a wife and mother of an adorable two year old son. Nicole (pseudonym) tells of how she manages her multiple roles successfully by being committed to her purpose as a Godly wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. 

The Mummy Resume: Who are you? What's your elevator pitch?

Nicole: I am a woman trying to figure out my role in life; as a wife, mother, student and person and how I can live the life God has set out for me to live.

The Mummy Resume: Has your definition of yourself fundamentally changed since you became a mom?

Nicole: Yes. I think becoming a mom made me realize that the world does not revolve around me. 

The Mummy Resume: What do you do? What do you enjoy about it? Has your choice of profession eased your role as a mother or made it more challenging?

Nicole: I am studying to become a dentist. I enjoy the satisfaction of being able to treat a patient and get them out of pain or discomfort. I derive the same satisfaction from being a mother as I tend to my son’s needs.

The Mummy Resume: Describe a typical day in your life. What are your secrets to balancing motherhood, school, and life? Any practical tips? 

Nicole: Well, on a typical day, I wake up, brush my teeth, take a shower, have devotion, eat breakfast, leave by 7am, and drive 30 minutes to school. I attend my classes; go to clinic, then drive back home, where I feed my son, have dinner, play with my son, bath my son, study and go to bed. A pretty standard day if you asked me. I really have no secrets. I take it day by day. Some days are great. Others make me wish I had super powers. I do find myself crying out to God to help me, which He does. I also have a wonderful support group including my husband.

I try to take breaks from my routine - I simply enjoy just being home and hanging out with the family. I also tend to play games on my phone during dull moments to take my mind off school.

The Mummy Resume: Wow, definitely some great lessons in there. Taking it day by day is important. Sometimes as mothers, wives, and women chasing a career, or in your case, an education, we function on overwhelmingly long lists of to-dos. Having the wisdom to take it day by day and then finding and relying on a great support system and divine help, certainly makes an otherwise impossible role manageable.

Which brings me to my next question, how have you kept your marriage alive through the exhaustion of balancing it all? 

Nicole: Date nights, praying together, sharing about our days, doing special things for each other to show that we do care. My spouse has encouraged me through the harder times and prayed for me.

The Mummy Resume:  That’s wonderful. I’m sure sharing spiritual beliefs helps ground you too and gives you the common foundation needed to be supportive of each other. You certainly seem like you have got it all together. Do you have any pitfalls? What are they? What things do you still struggle with in balancing motherhood and life? Are there days when things seem to fall apart?

Nicole: Hahaha, I couldn't help but chuckle at your description of me having everything together. Are there days when things seem to fall apart? Certainly! I feel like that is me a lot of the time. I'm not perfect but I do want the best for my family. So every day I try to put them first. That does not always happen but tomorrow is a new day and I just ask God to show me how to be better.

The Mummy Resume: I love your spirit of acceptance. I feel like a lot of the stress we undergo as women is self-imposed because we do not celebrate the small victories and simply accept our limitations. What are those small victories for you? What do you enjoy most about being a mother? Why?

Nicole: This might not make sense but looking into my son's eyes and marveling at the fact that he is my son and that God gave him to me. It's surreal because I feel like a kid myself sometimes. I certainly believe that there is a kid in every one of us…but yes, just coming to the humbling realization that I am privileged to be a mother makes all the struggles and challenges that come with the role so worth it.

The Mummy Resume: What dreams and aspirations do you have for your son and how are you working towards giving him a head start in that direction?

Nicole: I wish that my son grows up to be a man after God's heart. I want him to be fulfilled in whatever vocation he decides to pursue and that God will bless him too with a loving family.

The Mummy Resume: Those are really treasured aspirations for your son and I’m sure the prayers you say today for those wishes to come true will make a great difference several years down the lane. What advice do you have for young moms like yourself aspiring to excel at motherhood while reaching their full potential in other endeavors? 

Nicole: Don't be afraid to ask for help. Also realize that something always gives so you have to be okay with the fact that three more hours at work, will mean three hours less with your child or family but when you are with your family, make every moment count.

"Motherhood is laughing till you cry and crying till your laugh..."

Happy New Year! After an unpardonably long hiatus, The Mummy Resume is back with a continuation of  the Holding On To You series. This post features an interview with a young mother and blogger (SimplyChic Momma) who shares her experiences about juggling motherhood and life. Check out her awesome blog at http://babyfromabove.blogspot.com/ 

The Mummy Resume: What’s your elevator pitch? Who are you?

SimplyChic Momma: I am a first time momma & wife juggling my mundane desk job with my DIY addiction. My baby and bridal blogs serve the dual purpose of being both a form of therapeutic relief as well as an awesome open journal to look back on

The Mummy Resume: Has your definition of yourself fundamentally changed since you became a mom?

SimplyChic Momma: Absolutely! The journey of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood is such an intense one, it is impossible to go through it without being transformed. More than anything I see myself slowly morphing into my mother in so many ways! I feel like a character in a comic book for saying this but the experience of motherhood showed me hidden strength from within that I didn't  even know existed.

The Mummy Resume: Haha, ‘slowly morphing into your mother huh’? I can totally relate with that. I suppose it makes sense since most of our lessons about motherhood stem from watching our own mothers. Somehow though, it isn’t always easy to imbibe how they balanced it all. What are your secrets to balancing motherhood, work, and life? I know you do a ton of creative projects and you made all your daughter’s baby food. How did you do this? Any practical tips?

SimplyChic Momma: The biggest secret of all is that there truly is no secret. Honestly.  People asked me  all the time how I found the time to make all her baby food and still have time for all my crafting projects, and blogging amidst everything else I have to do, and I’ll always say it’s simply a juggling act. By its very definition the term juggling means at any given time some things will be out of my hands. I’ve accepted that and made peace with that, I can’t be perfect at every single thing all the time, but that doesn’t stop me from constantly wanting to try something new or add a new challenge to my routine.  Do I consider myself a super mom? By all means no, like all moms out there I have good days and not so great days when my home looks disastrous, and my toddler screams like a banshee for no reason, at such a high volume and pitch it’s totally undecipherable by humans. And yet still I know tomorrow will be another day and we will get to try all over again. If anything at all, my best advice is to always keep an open mind about trying new things. Too often we defeat ourselves in advance with our own fears and insecurities about how impossible it all seems and how we won’t be as good as that other mom.  In the famous words of Mandela “It always seems impossible until it’s done” Trying, trying and trying some more, that is really all it takes. If you aren't scared to fail a few times, you will succeed a lot!

The Mummy Resume: ‘Trying, trying and trying some more’ – great words of wisdom. I read an article that asserted that true ‘super moms’ don’t view themselves as such. Thanks for your honesty; it’s refreshing to know that we are all in the great struggle of motherhood together. While you are busy at being the best mum you can be, what you enjoy doing in the leisure time that you can muster and how have you maintained ‘me’ time during your journey in motherhood.

SimplyChic Momma: I love trying out new DIY projects, usually with crafts and home décor for my daughter’s room as well as our entire home. I also enjoy baking and cooking up new recipes for the family, it is my mission to try to make sure my daughter’s diet consists mainly of healthy wholesome homemade food as much as possible.  I’m sure it is different for every mom, but for me I am so passionate about my hobbies I always find the time to work on them even if only for a little while. Having a supportive partner makes all the difference!

The Mummy Resume: What do you enjoy most about being a mother? Why? 

SimplyChic Momma: Everything!  As cliché as it sounds, I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it. It’s a package deal, you simply can’t take part of it without the rest. The highs are even more awesome because of the lows. The challenges make the triumphs so much sweeter. There would be nothing special about my daughter sleeping through the night in her own crib, unless of course you knew the struggles of months of sleepless nights and had the bags under your eyes to prove it. Each milestone, each new tooth, each new outfit that grew too tight way too soon... they are all part of the awesomeness of motherhood. In the words of the first every mother’s day card I was given; it’s all about “laughing till you cry and crying til you laugh… from love to lunacy and everything in between”