What I love about Moms
Last month was very exciting…
On the business front, Jane and I secured two new wholesale accounts, one here in the Midwest (Sunset Foods), and a natural food chain in Oregon called Market of Choice. We also won a coveted sofi Award for our Sichuan Spice Blend, pitched four additional meal kit concepts to Peapod, supported Autism Awareness Month, and and were asked to do a cooking segment on WGN (Channel 9 in Chicago).
If that wasn’t enough…
Jane went camping with her littlest Girl Scout, Connie, while I put together a trip overseas to look at a college program in the Netherlands with our youngest child, Lucy. I also coordinated the final details for celebrating our eldest child’s college graduation.
I was feeling pretty good until…
a few days before Jane’s scheduled appearance when, while relaxing on the bed of my “petit hotel” in The Hague, I watched a few “Midday Fix” cooking segments on WGN.
I realized (somewhat to my horror) that we needed to enhance the physically stage of the entire cooking segment – not just provide our food and a slow cooker. This simple sentence in the set-up document the studio provided to us, “We can send you a list of food/photo stylists upon request.” took on a whole new meaning. We also received an ominous email from our PR person the same day which stated that Jane needed to wear “lots of make-up.”
Knowing Jane had her hands full preparing her speech, food, and now make-up, I saw that I needed to step-up and perform my traditional role of “sous chef” and stage our space
How would I do I do this from my hotel room in The Netherlands?
Well, I did what all Moms do, I put out an SOS to our Zen Team, aka Team of Moms. Within minutes of placing my SOS, my friend Khris came to the rescue with an “I’m on it.”
After a very comical call, when she got out of the shower to answer her cell phone, knowing that I was calling her via FaceTime (no worries she pointed her phone toward the ceiling only showing her forehead) she jumped in her car, headed over to my office and packed up all of our the supplies.
Within an hour she was off to Chicago and all of our staging supplies made it safely to Jane’s home by early afternoon.
I love reflecting on this sequence of events, as it illustrates how, as Moms, we always do “both”. We don’t trade one role in life for another, rather, we weave them together in a delicate balance knowing that meeting expectations on both fronts provides the equilibrium we need to feel “ok.” We know that when one role becomes too prominent relative to the other, as is apt to happen, we feel “off.”
So as we approach Mother’s Day I want to say “thank you”.
Thank you to all of my friends who have picked up my child at carpool, or delivered them to soccer, brought over dinner when I lost a parent, let me cry on your shoulder, covered for me when I was running late, or reminded me of picture day.
Happy Mother’s Day! I’m grateful to all of you.
Zen Moment
“The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.”
Hubert H. Humphrey
