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This is what it looks like being a working mom.

It’s bringing your child to a work meeting when school is called off due to weather.

It’s Facetiming your family when you can’t make it home for bedtime.

It’s feeling guilty because you missed your daughter’s Christmas concert, or feeling sad because you missed being at her gymnastics practice.

It’s racing home for dinner, cramming family game night into a 30-minute window.

It’s waking up to the alarm just four hours after going to sleep, knowing you have to get your child ready for school.

It’s using your few hours of free time to volunteer at your child’s school, knowing it’s the only time of the day you might get to hug your girl.

It’s showing up to a work event with spit-up or an unknown food on your suit, and wrappers and trash tucked in your purse.

It’s checking on your baby when you get home late at night, watching her sleep because you didn’t get that goodnight kiss.

It’s that tug at your heartstrings, wondering what milestones you might miss, but also loving your career.

It’s finding your identity beyond the word “mom”.

It’s being a role model for your child, showing her that you can have it all.

It’s learning that it’s not the amount of time we spend with our children, it’s the quality of time that means the most.

It’s not easy being a working mom, but I wouldn’t change it. Having a career and being a mom is truly the best of both worlds. And I’m a better parent because of it.

This article originally appeared on Stacey Skrysak

 

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To All the Working Moms Who Are Tired Before They Get to Work

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Stacey Skrysak

Stacey Skrysak is a local television news anchor in Illinois, but her proudest role is becoming a mom after years of infertility. Stacey is mother to a 22-weeker surviving triplet and two angels. Even though two of her children were only alive for a short time, her triplets have touched thousands of people around the world. Through her blog, Stacey has become a voice for infertility, premature birth and child loss. These days, she sprinkles in the trials and tribulations of raising a daughter, who was once nicknamed “The Diva of the Nicu.”

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