To celebrate National Working Moms Day on March 12, we asked our current and former working moms to share photos of their kids and thoughts on how they’ve balanced the demands of their careers and parenting.
Kerri’s daughters Kelly, Molly, and Katie.
“As a mom of three girls born in 1993, 1994, and 1998, I found that working full time was very challenging when they were young,” says district manager Kerri Collins. “When my first two daughters were born 13 months apart, I considered staying home full time — but I really enjoyed my job, so my husband and I did whatever was needed to make it work. When I was not working, my focus was finding the right balance of family time and me time. I took up walking, yoga, and biking to keep myself healthy and grounded. I always hoped I would not regret working while raising my family, and to this day I know it was the right choice for me. I believe my daughters admire the balance I found in having a successful career and raising three beautiful women.”
Julie with 7-year-old twins Zach and Alex and 10-year-old Madalyn. “I don’t have a lot of photos of just myself and the kids,” she notes. “Mom’s always the one taking the photos!”
“One way I balance work and family life is by working 32 hours a week instead of 40,” says commercial portfolio manager and mother of three Julie Sterna. “After my boys were born, they had lots of weekly appointments, so I reduced my hours to be able to juggle everything — it also saved me from paying for day care times three! Even though all of my kids are in school now, I use my day off to meal prep, catch up on laundry, run errands, take the kids to various appointments, volunteer in their classrooms, and occasionally get a little me time. It’s also usually my one guaranteed day to get a workout in and helps save the weekends for some family fun and all of their various activities. I’m also fortunate that my parents live close by and are willing to help out with my kids.”
She adds: “One small time-saver I have found very useful is to buy chicken breast and ground turkey breast in bulk from Costco. I spend a few hours prepping and cutting the chicken and browning the turkey, and then I freeze it all. This saves me a lot of time when I’m trying to get dinner on the table after a day of work.”
Erika’s son Uriel, 8, and daughter Itzayana, 3. What’s challenging about parenting? “Not being able to go to the bathroom alone,” she sighs.
“I am conflicted on the whole ‘Working Moms Day’ — I would call it Parenting Day instead, or even Family Day,” says video teller Erika Garcia. “All moms and kids are different. Not everyone will understand what some moms do, and many people will even judge other moms. Stay-at-home moms are ‘working’ moms too, and their ‘jobs’ don’t end. There are also grandparents who help parents out or raise children as their own, sometimes while also working themselves. Some moms get help from significant others or co-parent, as well as friends and co-workers. Even teachers and day care workers are like parents to our kids while we are working! So to be working moms, we need lots of other people too.”
Got any words of wisdom or advice about being a working mom? Share with us at shorelines@northshorebank.com. Winners of our prizes — The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown and a paid half day off — have been selected and will be announced on March 10.