Skip to main content

On Being a Working Mom

I grew up in a household where both parents worked, albeit separate shifts until my sister and I were both in school. Mom worked nights and dad worked days - we would all meet in the parking lot of mom's work to switch cars and parents. From the outside looking in the setup may have appeared a bit strange, but it worked for us and this is how our parents choose the logistics in order to avoid daycare.

Now that I am back at work I have struggled with the reality of leaving my child with someone else everyday. It's not that I don't trust the caregivers, heck, they are family for goodness sake, its just the fact that I am not the one taking care of her. I miss our experiences together.

I keep coming back to something Karen Nyberg said before launching to the International Space Station in 2013, "But after going through it in my head for a long time, this is a dream I had since I was a young child myself. I don't think I would be setting a very good example for my son if I were to give up on my dream."

This is exactly how I feel about being Zara's mom. I want her to dream big. I want to help straighten paths towards her goals. I want her to know that she can do anything - that she can make a difference in the world. And I want to be her role model. I'm not saying being a working mom is the right choice for everyone, but it is for me - I have wanted to work at NASA since I was 6 years old, and now I do! I like to think that our relationship is mutually beneficial -


She is my anchor and I am working to be her wings!

Spread those arms baby, I can't wait to watch you fly!

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousTuesday, May 31, 2016

    Being able to be a workinig Mom is never an easy decision. Eveyone has to be happy with their choice of working or not. Think about the shoe on the other foot... the dad.. working or staying at home with the children??!! I'm glad that you are happy with your decision. I just love the pics of Zara the little stinker!! Love, Aunt Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  2. GeevzThursday, June 02, 2016

    We need women going on ALL different paths! I need my daughter and my sons to see women excelling as CEOs, doctors, ISS pilots!, welders, HVAC techs, etc. And we need moms and dads at home to be volunteers at the elementary school or to watch extra kids for the 2 hrs between the end of school and the end of work. We need them all and I hope you know that you are doing important work no matter what. The beauty is, we never have to stick to just one path either. I hope you can find full enjoyment in this season of life no matter where it takes you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Who has two thumbs and loves comments? Nerdy April!!! Type one out and hit publish!

Popular posts from this blog

The road to curing Type 1 Diabetes

From the moment of diagnosis, the road is rough, the learning curve is steep and the stakes are literally life or death. The map is less-than-helpful - paths originating from virtually every corner, coalescing at a center point (aka "diagnosis") and bursting back outwards - some paths cross and wrap around each other but others are isolated. And even with all of these roads, most of the territory is uncharted - how did we all get here and how will we all exit? Where are the obstacles we haven't found yet? Which passage holds the key to unlocking the solution? On any given day I feel pretty isolated with this disease - I'm the only T1D in my group at work, the only one in mission control, the only one in my family. I go through the logistics of calling insurance companies, ordering supplies, changing sites and troubleshooting malfunctions mostly on my own. Even those pesky carbs really only get counted in my brain, no group think for a meal bolus here. But there i
4 comments
More Nerdy This Way! »

Hot OJT

Last week I had the chance to mentor a newly certified ADCO trainee - the NASA process is called "Hot On-The-Job-Training", or Hot OJT. What makes it "hot" you ask? Well, essentially I am hands off - he is sitting at the console, working all the plan reviews and updates, making calls to other flight controllers and to the flight director, reacting to anomalies and preparing material for the shift handover. My job is to act as the fault tolerance - a backup ADCO of sorts. Tuesday was his last official day and by Wednesday morning he was in the backroom sending commands to ISS in preparation for the docking of a three-person Soyuz. Controlling ISS during the 61S Soyuz docking! The beauty of this system is the gradual buildup in responsibility. There is a subtle shift from student, to subject matter expert, to fresh operations trainee to advanced trainee and finally to certification and real-time operations flight controller - the process takes two years
2 comments
More Nerdy This Way! »

The Diabetes Transportation System DTS-T1

I was looking forward to the Space Shuttle launch on Monday, then it was pushed to Wednesday and now it is scheduled for Thursday due to several electrical issues from a main engine computer controller. Ironically, our little MH-47G (due to start testing on Monday originally) has been having it's own issues and it is still unclear exactly when we will start testing. And all of this uncertainty, schedule changes, and issue-working reminds me of my little friend Diabetes [come on, you knew that was coming :-)]. Even with hard work, super awesome bolusing skills [ check out Holly's blog today, the number crunching is very impressive] and constant blood sugar checks, Diabetes can still be unpredictable, necessitate schedule changes, and cause the carrier to work through the issues. I have been lucky today, even after a late-night cocktail last night, I woke up this morning at 112, and before lunch I was an amazing 113. I love being steady like that, cruising along with hardly an
4 comments
More Nerdy This Way! »
01 09 10