My Mom. My Grandma.

My Mom. My Grandma.

Two women that really did do it all.

They raised kids. My mom, three. My grandma, six. With loving, engaged husbands.  

They planned the parties. They made (!!) or shopped for the clothes. They made the food. Did all the cleaning. Hosted the community events. Cleaned the gutters. Wallpapered the walls. Painted the cabinets. 

AND my grandma, owned and operated a hardware store for 30 years.

AND My mom taught in Seattle public schools for 34. 

THIS was my model. My model of what it means to be a working woman with kids, with engaged partners.

Fu*k. That’s a TALL order. One that I subconsciously thought I would step into – not realizing I think my mom and grandma had extra battery packs tucked into their back-sides. Or maybe it is because smart phones and the internet didn’t exist back then or maybe they are just wired differently than me. Doesn’t matter. What matters is…that couldn’t be my version of being a working parent. My body wasn’t built for that— physically, emotionally, spiritually, or mentally.

Here is my version of this…

I am raising two kids with a loving, totally engaged husband. 

My husband and I each make one lunch for each kid.

I wash the clothes. He folds them.

He manages sports activities.

I manage camps and childcare.

We split vacation planning.

We split financial management tasks.

He manages school communication for one kid, I do the other.

He makes the snacks. I make dinners.

We both go to work every day.

We have a weekly one-on-one to discuss the business of our household, and divide outstanding tasks as needed. 

We lean on our community a lot . For pick ups, drop offs…so many things.

It took us years to figure out the above structure. Birthed from honoring our unique skills as well as frustration and resentment from both of us.  

Putting a balanced foundational structure in place was imperative for us to function as a family with two working parents. . 

Click here for a copy of one-on-one template.

Finally, to my mom and my grandma, you are remarkable women. What I learned from you: Women have power. Speak up. And if you want something to happen, lean in and get it done.