Reflections on One Week as a Working Mom

This week has been a bit of a whirlwind. Where do I start? I guess I start in 1995 when I was attempting to map out my life. I pre-wrote my resume when I was 18 years old (I should have saved it). And aside from a few twists and turns, that magic 8 ball could not have more perfectly predicted that I would end up exactly ... here.

I always wanted to be immersed in food and words. My first foray into this dream life was back in 1999 when I was about to start my master's, and I had a six-month period before I began. I was given the opportunity to work as an intern at Chicago magazine, and someone somehow let me take hold of a few restaurant reviews.

But after J-school was over, reality set in and I took a job that would allow me to pay my Boston rent. It was my first job. It was so obviously where I was supposed to be (thank you, Lord) for that period of my life because on my first day there I met Paul. All that aside, -- and I don't mean to dismiss it -- I wasn't in my element. I was very much out of my element in an industry I didn't know. There were definitely days (most? all?) when I sat at my desk building charts and editing reports dreaming about what I would make for dinner, how I would get the ingredients, and what I would bake on the weekends.

Fast forward nine years. I have always wanted to be a mom, much much more than I wanted to write or edit anything. Lindsay came along and I couldn't see further than her face. I'm sure moms out there understand how your new baby can do this to you. You kind of lose sight of everything else. I didn't think I was ready to turn any of my focus away from my daughter...

But then something came along that was so obvious. I wasn't looking for it at all, ... but I had a gut reaction when our friend PJ asked me to write and edit for his new recipe/food related internet startup, Plummelo. I think I dismissed the possibility before I even gave it a chance. But then I thought about it. How could I not do it?

So here I am. It has been one week as a working mom. I spent exactly zero minutes preparing for it, but it has given my life an extra spark that, I hope, will only improve me. Some things fell by the wayside this week, as I'm sure will become my new normal. No, I didn't get to all the laundry; yes, Lindsay spent much longer than she would have liked in the playpen; yes, I lost a few pounds on account of forgetting to eat (what?! it's good and bad at the same time); and yes, the sink was more full of dishes than it has possibly ever been. But, in practicing the Plummelo vision, I eked out two fully planned, fully home-cooked meals! Now my hours spent planning our meals and dreaming about recipes are part of my job. (More about that later.)

I'm not going to pretend it was easy to manage a 9 month old baby and work. My roles often butted heads, with the baby interrupting phone calls, emails interrupting my time with the baby, and my thoughts and ideas fleeing my mind as quickly as they came, but I think that with time I'll get used to managing my two responsibilities. I don't have a conclusion, because it's only the beginning of this interesting journey, but for now, I'm being challenged and inspired all at once. And I really like it.