A Note to Working Mamas

What does your alarm clock sound like? Is it your phone, your children, your husband, or are you old school and actually have an alarm clock on a digital clock? This morning I woke up remembering the days of being a working Mama. When I struggled to drop off my little Emma or leave her with Juan while I rushed out the door for work. My morning alarm clock wasn’t my babies laughing together like it was this morning. It was my annoying phone! This memory brought me to tears, because it was probably one of the hardest seasons of my life. Let me say, working Mamas of babies, little toddlers, or un-school aged children are incredibly strong, courages, and I adore you. Probably one of the hardest things you have to do as a working Mom is to leave your children with someone else, provide for the financial gap, and divide your heart and mind on a daily basis between two places. This responsibility comes with guilt, frustration, exhaustion to deeper levels, glaring eyes or judgmental moms who just don’t get why you have to be a working mom with such little children, or struggle with discontentment in general. I personally experienced all of them at one point as a working mom and let me tell you, it is was so hard. I don’t know if you are in that position or not, but one thing I do know is that the Lord honors obedience to His will. He is glorified in our contentment when following His will and provides joy as we walk in obedience to it. In my circumstance at the time, my husband was a full-time seminary student and working part time and there was no other option for us. Me working was an act of absolute obedience to God’s will for our lives. God honored that obedience and gave joy in the process (on most days) hehehe. I LOVED my job, my team of teachers, and had wonderful relationships with them, but boy did I feel like I was missing out on quality time with Emma and in reality, I was. My closest friends from Life Group got to stay home with their babies, my sister was a stay-at-home mom and there I was with Emma for about three hours a day before she went down for the night. Want you talk about a test of contentment! Let me tell you, I failed that test often, especially in the beginning! Those three hours I had with Emma everyday is where this idea of intentional play came from. I wanted to make the little time I had with her COUNT. We danced together practically every day (which is why I think she is in love with music and movement), went for a walk, and I turned to a great friend, Evelyn, who was amazing at Montessori learning strategies. She gave me a bunch of ideas of sensory experiences that I could do with Emma. This concept of intentional play or play-school isn’t just for stay-at-home Mamas. It is for every mom who wants to be intentional about the time that they have with their littles, however much time that it may be. If you are struggling with ideas of what to do with your child with the time you have, please e-mail me, follow my blog, or download the resources I post. This blog was created to share with others our journey, resources, and maybe cast a little vision or spark creativity in the upbringing and time management of the lives of our littles. The time we are given with them is so precious, let’s make it count.