Tag: Work Life Balance

Going back. And second guessing.

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by Jessica

One of the worst Mom Moments of my life happened on a sunny April morning, eight and a half years ago. Starbucks in hand, I was pushing my son in his stroller while out running errands when I ran into another mom I knew through mutual friends.

We had babies around the same age and started chatting about feeding schedules, the great pacifier debate… newborn mom stuff.

“Are you going back to work soon?” I asked her, knowing that my own unpaid maternity leave was ending in just a few days.

“Oh no,” she replied. “I couldn’t go back to work. This is a really wanted baby. I would never give up this time with her.”

My world stopped for a second. Blood rushed to my head. She had a wanted baby that warranted stay-at-home mom status. Did this mean my son was not as wanted? Did this mean something was broken in me that I was heading back to work after 11 short weeks? Why was I suddenly jealous? And heartbroken?

Continue reading “Going back. And second guessing.” →

Enough. Or maybe just one more…

Post by Sarah.

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“I love my job, but I want to have a baby.” Have you said this before? You worry that if you have a child, it will affect your career, professional growth and sanity. Despite the immediate “what ifs” that enter your mind, the aching desire to have a baby won’t go away.

These thoughts caused me many sleepless nights. I spent years in college and law school getting my degrees and becoming a professional. I got a great job, worked hard, and earned the respect of my peers. I had charted a very traditional professional course to put in the time, develop my skills, and advance. About the same time, I married a man, also a lawyer, and we soon began a family.1

We had our first child and the needs of our
home life immediately changed. We had child care expenses, diapers, and music classes. I wanted to be home more with our son. Simultaneously, the demands of our careers grew. Projects at work became larger with higher stakes and more time requirements.

My husband and I decided that the best thing for our family was for me to scale back at work. Less days in the office, work more at home and, thus, have more time with our son.

A couple of years went by and we had a second child. We continued to balance family and work obligations. I scaled back a bit more from the office and increased my time telecommuting. I was worried because I was spending less hours in the office working with colleagues and my career path was changing. I feared it may never recover.

One day, I found myself standing at a crossroads where I wanted to have another child, but I wanted to keep working and advancing my career. I thought I couldn’t do both – stay professionally relevant and have a third child. How could I maintain a meaningful presence in the legal field and meet the needs of my family with three young kids?

I tried to ignore my desire to have another baby. I had two kids, both happy and healthy. The work life – family life tug and pull was challenging, but we were making it work with the help of a nanny, grandparents, and babysitters. Why add another child to our precariously balanced life? Continue reading “Enough. Or maybe just one more…” →

Do What You Do: A Fresh Perspective on Work

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Picture it.  A neighborhood cocktail party and you bring your A game to embark on a night of the requisite small talk.  Have you ever stopped to take notice of how many times you are asked, “So, what do you do”?

Our society is obsessed with what people do and it has become the ultimate conversation starter.

For a woman who has opted out of the workforce, this can be a complicated question to answer because there is what she does NOW, what she USED to do, and many times, what she WANTS to do.

But not right now, because life is complicated.  Why is it complicated you ask?  Because I’m a woman and I already had a steeper ladder to climb which means a faster fall to the bottom when I stepped out of the workforce.  And I grow humans.  Humans are expensive and hard.  And daycare is expensive too.  And though not on my resume, this mothering skill is really important and my children think I’m great at it. It’s not that I do nothing – I actually do a lot.  But I want to remind you that I had a real job before I had kids, I was good at that too.  Wait, raising kids IS a real job.  I digress…  Continue reading “Do What You Do: A Fresh Perspective on Work” →

The Pitch

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Accelerate-Winners-PicsMotherBoard was an idea rattling in our brains for a long time. But it came to the bright lights of a big stage for the first time on February 24, 2016 at the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate 2016 civic pitch competition. It was a phenomenal night, celebrating the exciting future of our beloved city and bringing together friends and colleagues who shared big dreams for igniting change in our region and beyond.

Check out Jess’ pitch below. A few details have changed as our discovery process and business plan progressed but the nuts and bolts are here and you can definitely see the spark of something we know will be great!