Today’s interview is with my long-time blog friend Callie from the blog Through Clouded Glass. She is wife to Derek, mama to three kids under four (whew), and a part-time dental hygienist. Here’s a glimpse into her life as a busy working mom:
1. What is your typical day like?
On a typical work day I set the alarm for 4:30 AM, then I hit the snooze button a few times. I try not to wake the kids up and usually head out around 5:15. My husband gets the kids up and takes them to my mom’s house. I feel so blessed that my mom is able to watch the kids for me while I am at work, and the kids always look forward to hanging out at grandma’s house!
(Me in my work garb.)
I usually get to work around 6:30 AM and then pump before I go in since I’m nursing my youngest. I start at 7:00 AM and see one patient every hour until 3:00 PM (with a pumping break around lunch time). My work varies a bit depending on what kind of treatment each patient needs, but it’s also nice to have a set schedule – I feel like hygiene gives me structure, but I still get the variety of different treatments. I like getting to know my patients!
After I get off work I either meet my mom in town and bring the kids home with me, or my mom might drop them off at my house if my husband is working from home that day. We eat dinner, put the kids to bed, and spend a little time together in the evenings!
2. Why do you work?
3. What’s the best thing about being a working mom? What’s the worst or hardest thing?
I feel like I have the best of both worlds working part time, so I feel blessed in that area! I get to enjoy the benefits of both staying home and going to work. I think the best thing about work days is feeling like a professional, and bringing in a paycheck. The hardest thing is just that I don’t get to see the kids very much on Fridays, and I’m pretty drained by the time I get home. My hat is off to all you mamas who work full time!
4. What items or tips do you recommend to help “make it work”?
I think my tip as a working mom would be to try not to let the fact that you are working prevent you from finding a group of moms to be a part of. When my first son was born I thought I couldn’t participate in any moms groups because of how much I was working. But community as a mom is so helpful, so if I could do it over I’d try to make sure I had that from the start. (Great advice! It is so easy to use our busy schedule as an excuse to cut this out, but it is so so important!)
5. What encouragement, scripture, etc. has been important in your life and might be meaningful to another working mom?
A passage of Scripture that is really relevant to women in general is Proverbs 31. We have all heard of the Proverbs 31 woman, and how she does all these things for her family. In my mind, I had this picture of her as a supermom who stays home every day, wakes up early, makes clothes for her kids, grows her own vegetables, has a perfectly decorated house, cooks good dinners every night, runs her own business, etc. Some women might accomplish every one of those things, but I felt a little discouraged because I don’t do all that.
One day I was talking to my mom about that passage and my mom said something that stuck with me – she said that by working and contributing a paycheck, I was still doing all those things for my family. All our situations are different, and we all have different talents and gifts – for example, I could never grow our own food, because I have a black thumb, but that doesn’t mean I can’t provide food for my family in other ways. I realized that a Proverbs 31 woman is wise, she is a hard worker, and she takes care of her family and is a blessing to them – and taking care of our families can look a different for different women. That was such an encouragement to me. (This is GREAT.)
Thanks Callie – As always, you have such wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement for all of us!
Hope your Monday is off to a good start everyone!
Until tomorrow,
E