Working Moms

2020: The Year We Never Could Have Prepared For I know many of us find ourselves having to be more flexible than ever this year, especially when it comes to our work-life balance and our children's education or childcare. As a teacher and a mom, I never would have expected the year to look like this. Teaching from home with no daycare in the spring brought a lot of challenges and our family had to find ways to quickly adjust and make it work, as did many of you I'm sure! Having the summer off was more than convenient this year given the circumstances. Now that we've rolled back into the school year, I've been teaching from home and I've...

It goes without saying- being a mom is hard. Being a working mom is hard. Being a stay-at-home mom is hard. Being a mom who works from home is hard. There is no debating any of this. Some women are born to have careers. It’s practically in their blood to rock high heels and a suit on a daily basis. Other women are made to be homemakers. They live and breathe taking care of their families and homes. In my opinion, both types of moms are heroes. As for me, I fall somewhere in the middle, which is why I’m a working mom even though I wish I weren’t. It’s not that I don’t like working. In fact, just the...

When the pandemic began, I remember people sending me well wishes, praising me for my sacrifice of being a healthcare worker. At times I found it undeserving, but the appreciation made my heart swell during those shifts that tested my limit. Commercials flooded my television screen mentioning how selfless we were, the nurses and doctors putting in long hours to keep a growing pandemic at bay. My, have things changed. Recently, it seems while viewing every avenue of media, I have found myself feeling frustrated and defeated. I have been called "sheep." I have been called "brainwashed." I have been told to "hop on your boxcar" to follow the rest. Just mere months ago I was a leader, a dedicated servant...

After 10 years with the Louisiana Department of Health, the time came for me to make a career change. However, we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. My current contract was ending on June 30th, and we had not yet made it beyond Phase II of Governor Edward’s Executive Order. Add to that my husband who had been the Sous Chef for L’Auberge saw the news right along with you. So, here we were, both of us, transitioning financially during a pandemic. Fortunately for my husband, his talents were easily transferable to our catering business, Odom’s Kitchen. So, we began posting to all social media platforms and promoting our business harder than we ever had. To say that,...

Why is it I cringe when I have a video meeting and knowing I won't have the help to watch my daughter? Like many other moms, we have found ourselves working from home with babies, toddlers and teenagers at home as well. I am very grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to keep working but I was very stressed on March 13th when the governor announced that schools were closing. Even though my daughter is in daycare, and daycares were still open, I knew eventually they would close. I remember sitting at my desk in my cubical at work, crying big crocodile tears. I didn't know what was next. Being a control freak by nature, I could not control...