Even before 8:30AM this morning, dozens of super moms and dads had completed a 5.5 mile trail race through Gay City State Park in Hebron, Connecticut.  Luckily, it had not rained within the last few days, so the frequency of mud puddles was reduced to those near streams and springs. Although I competed in cross-country in high school and college, this trail proved to be significantly more difficult.

Tomorrow my daughter, Sloan McKenna will be 4 weeks old.  I made it through the horrible pregnancy and am now a mother of two!  Where did the last 4 weeks go?  She came 2 weeks early.  She had been trying to get out for 2 weeks prior to that, so only 2 weeks early isn't so bad. 

Like most of the country’s female population, I devoured the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in about three days. Other than some of the more obvious content, I was intrigued by Ana’s working mother persona. Perhaps it is because we are both named Anastasia.  But I found three things interesting:

The average length of a K-12 school year, depending on where you live coincides with the average pregnancy.

Working moms start to sweat summer activities in February, when the chance of snow is still 50%.  When school is out, kids are ready to play.  But the parents are still working.  And working moms need to figure out how to handle daycare, pick-ups, drop-offs, camps, and vacations.

I often times sound like a broken record to my close friends and family. Give me any political issue and I’ll show you exactly how money in politics plays a significant role in its outcome. I’ll spare you my long lecture about how the role of money in our political system degrades the health of our democracy (maybe I’ll hold that for another Working Mother post) and get right to what’s been on my mind.

I have a dear friend who went back to work after baby #2 about six months ago.  We were talking about going back to work (which I did today - more on that later) while nursing babies.  The reminiscing about "Bessie," as we call our collective breast pumps, ended with her admitting she fantasized about running over her Pump in Style with her Honda Odyssey.  

Mother’s Day

Celebrate!

 What it is

A celebration of motherhood and peace dating back to the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Isis and resurrected by the suffering of civil war.

Out of the thirty-five or so eager souls who had risen at the crack of dawn to practice for the Shamrock Du, the first two whom I met are also working mothers. I met Jamie and Karen, who both have young children, before we took off for our 13mile ride to preview the race course.  We all agree that this is a gift to ourselves and from our understanding husbands who remained home with our toddlers.

Driving to church today, staring at the blooming flowers, rich green lawns and willowy trees, I was soaking in Mother's Day.  Then I realized, so was my husband and my three kids. 

EVERYONE was enjoying Mother's Day.

And I LOVE it!

My husband loves planning and surprising me - plus (in all his super-husband sweetness) tries to make my life easier whenever possible.