“I don’t want to get ‘being mayor’ wrong, but I really don’t want to get ‘being a mom’ wrong.”
– Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (Atlanta)
I heard Mayor Bottoms say this at a summit I attended last November, and it spoke directly to my SOUL! I was sitting next to a co-worker and fellow mom, and it was like we were in church at that moment! We FELT it! ?
It’s no secret that it can be so difficult to “balance” working from home and being an attentive mom.
Sidebar: I actually don’t love the word “balance” in this context. I think it sets us up for failure—or the feeling of failure, at the very least—because when we don’t live up to whatever that picture of “balance” is, we immediately feel like we’ve failed because we didn’t achieve the perfect balance. Just because we inevitably drop balls that we’re juggling, we are unbalanced, or out of balance, and therefore failures. Let’s find another word, moms. Maybe it’s just “life.” After all, that’s what life is, right? Juggling a lot of different facets?
But that’s why I love looking at photos like these.
When I’m beating myself up, caught up in the “pull” of motherhood/life, they remind me that I do, in fact, spend a lot of quality time with Davis. I’m not a bad mom, even when other obligations demand my attention (that’s life, after all). They help ground me in a sense.
I’m not getting ‘being a mom’ wrong. I can be good at my career and many other things and still be a good mom. Moments like these remind me of that. ?
Lebrean snapped this pic a few days after Christmas last year (2019). You know during those days between Christmas and New Year’s Day when everything runs together and you have no idea what day it is? Just like quarantine! ?