We’d like to think that motherhood is all sunshine and rainbows, but sometimes sh*t gets real, and we mean really real. From drop off, to pickup, and everything in between, being a mom is a full-time job. And while we wouldn’t trade it for anything, sometimes it takes real life superheroes to get the job done. So we asked some of the #momprenuers out there to share their (yes, we swear these are all true!) stories about when the sometimes awkward, and most often hilarious parts of being a mom collide with the working world. And if this doesn’t prove that these working mamas can kick ass, we don’t know what can.
“Every good mom story always starts with "I looked away for 1 minute" and this one is no exception. Being a stay-at-home -mom with a 3 year-old means toting them along to the floral market on event day. I should have known from the gleam in his eye when we first walked in not to put him down. Of course, as soon I turned my head to speak to the rep behind the counter he was off and running! Flying through the rows of fresh flowers with his arms spread wide, making sure to swipe each one as he ran by. I took off after him making it the ultimate game of cat n mouse. His giggles and squeals of delight could be heard throughout the market as I chased him, weaving in and out of sunflowers, roses and mums. When I finally caught him and scooped him up he looked at me with a big grin and said "once more mama?". From then on I arm the counter with bags of candy provide him with a bag of M&M's while I completed my order.” Amy Hincman, Alice’s Table Event Exec
“In Kindergarten, my son's teacher ‘interviewed’ each child about their mom for Mother's Day. One of the questions was ‘tell me about your mom's job,’ and my precious boy said ‘My mommy talks on the phone in her pajamas all day.'" —Robin Leon, Au Pair in America
“A Morgan Stanley investment banker emailed me about setting up a meeting, to which I replied ‘We should totally do it at Chuck E. Cheese’ because I thought I was responding to my husband’s email about planning our three-year old’s birthday party.” — Melissa, via Babble
“I have so many funny stories related to my failed attempts at trying to work and mother, but the best one is when I logged in to join a web conference while I was pumping and accidentally had my webcam on. Thankfully, I was the first person to join the call and disabled the camera before anybody else logged in. It had the makings of very embarrassing moment though!” —Robyn Racheotes, Founder of A Modest Life and an Alice’s Table Event Exec
“When my son was two and I was VERY pregnant, I got an unexpected emergency client call after hours while bathing him. Instead of just admitting it wasn't a good time, I completed the call, holding the phone in one hand and bathing my son with the other. My client never knew and I managed to solve their crisis. But looking back, would it have been so terrible to admit that I was doing mom stuff and would have to call them back? Of course not, but when you work from home, sometimes you feel like you have to work even harder to prove yourself, because people automatically think you work less.” — Ellie Hirsch, founder of Mommy Masters
“My kids occasionally use the back of the documents I bring home to draw on — usually it’s stuff I’ve already reviewed and is now in the “scrap paper” drawer but one day they got a hold of a document I was working on. Not an issue because it’s on the back, right? Until you absentmindedly scan both sides and send it to a client … ” — Anna, via Babble
