The blog category “Work Like a Mother” is the place I’ll go deeper sharing my experiences as a working mom executive with a young family.  I know I’m far from alone in this space, yet there have been many portions of the journey where I’ve personally felt quite lonely and like I was a unicorn (or just crazy) to think I could juggle all I wanted to at the level I wanted to.  

From the start, I’ve said that maryenquist.com is not intended to be a “mommy blog.”  There are lots of those out there for women who are looking for advice on parenting.  I don’t even pretend to have it all figured out, to be the perfect mom, or to have perfect children. 

“Work Like a Mother” is all about keeping it real and having a few laughs together.  I will share some experiences and you may find them to be helpful (or not). Ultimately, the intention of “Work Like a Mother” is to support the woman, who with her superhero strengths, supports her team, company, and family.

Last summer, I was completely floored to receive an email notifying me that I had been selected as our company’s “Working Mother of the Year.”  My company received the distinction of being named in the top “100 Best Places to Work” by Working Mother magazine.  I was honored and humbled by this fun recognition. To be honest, there are very few things I’d rather be a poster child for than supporting women in the work force. 

To give some insight into that evening, in true working mom mode, I had literally just walked in the door with my two young children from urgent care.  My son (5) had fallen into a metal window surround in the courtyard at preschool and needed stitches on his forehead.  I had received the call about 4:30 pm after I had just stepped out of a meeting with my executive team.  It was one of those “drop everything” moments. Immediately, I headed to school to pick up my child.  

At that point, my children were in two different schools, so after I picked up my son I needed to swing by the elementary school to pick up my daughter.  Both starving for dinner as we sat in the urgent care waiting room, I used an app on my phone to order dinner at the restaurant next door to keep the peace.  Don’t you love how technology enables life being just a touch easier?!?

Two layers of stitches later, we were walking in the door just ahead of bedtime routine.  As I glanced at my phone and saw this email, I shared the news out loud to my husband as a “Guess what!?!”  

I’ll never forget the reaction from my daughter, Natalie (8): “Mommy!  That’s what I’ve been telling you all these years.  You are the best mommy ever!!!”  It melted my heart. 

Now to be fair, she has made the claim that I’m the worst mommy ever on several occasions, too-–typically when disciplinary action is involved.  Still, it truly felt validating to put to rest all those mommy-guilt worries that my children would judge me for working as hard as I do and the deep-seated insecurity that I think most working mothers share in never wanting their children to feel second to their career.  One of my core beliefs is that “Family comes first; career enables family.”  That has certainly been the case for our household and the message I reinforce with my team.

Within a few minutes of receiving the first email, I received a second with an assignment to respond to a prompt by Working Mother magazine that would be used in their publication.  The due date set was the following day.

I looked at my calendar, which was completely packed with meetings.  I decided to get the kids to bed, sleep for a good six hours myself, and get up at dawn to write up my entry.  There was a small part of me that wondered, “Is this a test!?!” 

While the hours in which it was done may have been unconventional, the work got done and was done well.  If you’re curious to see what I wrote, I include my excerpt in the next blog post with the link to the Working Mother site showcasing the 100 Working Mothers of the Year from the companies in the top 100.  I had the privilege of meeting these women last fall and each is phenomenal in her own right.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this piece and get the dialogue of this community going by responding to the posed question(s) at the bottom of each blog post.

What do you value most from your company or boss as a working mom?