Stretch Mama

April 4, 2022

To Mama,

I always thought I would want to go back to teaching after our baby girl was born. I loved working with kids, loved seeing their lightbulb moment when they understood a challenging concept and felt like I made a difference, day in and day out. Being a teacher was what I had known, where I was comfortable, what I had studied for and where I thought I was me. This past September would have been my 9th year teaching.

8 years thinking I was who I wanted to be & at the time, for those 8 years, I was. They were really good years. I worked with a lot of students, I earned a Master’s, I became a Literacy Specialist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and I have at least 5 other certifications. I worked really hard and I gave my students all I had. I made a difference & yet, I do not miss teaching at all.

I do not miss it because each day I look at our baby girl who’s learning to say Mama, who’s giggle is on the verge of erupting out of her body, who knows my smirk, my look before I smile, who goes through diapers and formula faster than I ever thought possible and all I want to do is show up for her. Show up for my family, for her, for me.

So, 8 months after our baby girl was born, after a handful of sleepless nights and more runny noses than I have had clean tissues for and this is me. Mama. I’m Mama. Well part of me is, right? Because there was pre-mama and Mama and now, me, who is stretching her comfort zone to be the best version of me.

Until I set eyes on our baby girl, I never truly gave the Stay At Home Mama role a fair amount of thinking and now it’s the only role I want to fill. I want to play, teach, inspire, nurture and be present for all of my baby girl’s firsts, her laughs and coos, her tumbles and her lightbulb moments.

So I’m stretching, growing, leaning in and trusting my gut. I’m trying something new, something where I can still teach and empower, something I can do to help my family and something I can do and still be home for my family.

And I’m thrilled! I get to work with thee absolute most amazing women- helping WOMEN, empowering WOMEN, being my own boss and showing our baby girl that smart, WOMEN can make a difference and create their own empire. Well that’s the goal; sustain a work-from-home/stay-at-home Mama life. My empire.

And more important than all of this, is the ability to change, to grow, to know who I am, to be confident in who I am and connected to who I am so that I can connect and be present for everyone else in my life. Show up for me so I can show up for them.

When you have people in your life who support your leap, who hold the sides of your safety net while you jump, you feel a lot safer in taking a chance. Find those people. Be that person for someone else.

Stretch. Grow. Leap.

With love,

a growing mama