Q&A: Celebrating Working Moms

Mother’s Day is a special day to honor and appreciate the mothers in our lives. It’s also a time to reflect on the challenges and joys of being a working mom.

We had a conversation with Jamie, an employee at Express Employment International, about her journey as a working mom. Jamie, a single mom of four, shares valuable advice for other working moms to help them balance work and parenting.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being a working mom?

A: What I enjoy most about being a working mom is being able to eat my lunch without interruption! All jokes aside, while that is true, what I enjoy most is sharing all my experiences and knowledge with my children and exposing them to a world they may not have otherwise had access to. Through my career, I get to lead by example and show them they too can have a career if they want it.

Q: What advice would you give to other working moms?

A: The best advice I can give working moms is…let go. Let go of having all the house chores done every night. Let go of not being able to be on PTO or attend every (or any) class party that happens to fall during your work hours. Let go of the guilt you feel when you forget that for the third time this year it’s another theme week and your kiddo is supposed to dress up as a pirate. And let go of ever getting the appreciation you deserve as a working mom from your children, because until they have their own careers and kids, they will never understand all the sacrifices you’ve made to build the life you’ve provided. Raising a family takes a village, and I know I wouldn’t be able to be the kind of mom I want to be without my village being there for me every day.

Q: What is your preferred way to unwind and refresh after a busy day?

A: My favorite part of the day is coming home and having all my kids run up to me to give me big hugs. As a single mom, there’s really no such thing as unwinding and refreshing after a busy day, but those hugs recharge my energy to get through to the end of the day and to do it all over again the next day.

Q: What is the funniest thing your child has ever said or done while you were at work?

A: While on a work trip out of town this year, one of my daughters (11 years old) called and asked when my flight was getting in. I replied with the arrival time and in her sassy voice she said, “Nope, I don’t like that. You need to come home sooner.” I told her that I had no control over when the flight would arrive. So, she asked me what airline I was on and my flight number. About five minutes later, she called back and said, “I spoke to a lady at the airline. I don’t think she likes me because I told her she needed to make your flight come home sooner and the airline lady said she couldn’t do that, so I hung up.” (facepalm emoji / laugh-cry emoji) After a short lesson on phone etiquette, we laughed at how she actually tried to get my flight to come home sooner. The irony was the connecting flight got canceled. I had to rent a car and drive home, making me arrive home an hour later than if the flight had not been canceled! I teased her that our flight got canceled because she hung up on the airline lady!

With four children, there’s never a dull moment. I’m that special mom who has the principal’s personal cell number because sometimes it’s just easier to text after the third call of the day. The funniest call I received most recently from the school while at work started off with, “Everything is fine, we’ve already called poison control.” Of course, at first it didn’t seem so funny, but after hearing what had happened, it was one of those “good grief” moments. One of my boys (9 years old) had swallowed magnetic tape, just because. (facepalm emoji / facepalm emoji / facepalm emoji)

We hope you enjoyed reading about the experiences of a working mom. Now, we want to hear from you! Share your own stories, insights, and advice about being a working mom in the comments below.