A Secret to Success as a Working Mom: Use Dresses to Stay Cool and Stylish in Hot Weather

Greetings from Chaton's World in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! My days often start with laundry, early-morning emails, and making my kids a hot breakfast. They often end with late-night homework checks, making Instagram reels, and appearing on Celebrity Court of Public Opinion. Somewhere in between, I’m navigating boardrooms, working towards deadlines, and immersed in the good, bad, and ugly chaos of motherhood and household management. As a working mom of three and a professional carving out space in corporate environments, I share my journey of balancing leadership with loving my family, and I sprinkle it with self-care tips. Here, you’ll find honest reflections, hard-earned lessons, and practical strategies for creating an authentic life that you enjoy. If you’re trying to do it all without losing yourself in the process, you have found your sister in the struggle!  Continue reading to discover some thoughts, hacks, and/or lessons that I have learned from navigating my world.

Working Mom Tip: Count Your Blessings, Especially During the Holidays

Captivated by the trains at Phipps Conservatory
Photo credit: Ann Lehman
This past week I was on a Facebook page that I follow where one of the moms was venting. She was complaining that some moms whine to her about their lives when they actually have much more support than she does. She said that she and her husband were raising their kids completely by themselves and they had absolutely no help!

We'll put her privilege to the side for a second. The group is for lawyer mothers. So, at the start, she is probably more privileged than most mothers. Still, her comments resonated because I know that I am more than a little guilty of whining on my blog about my parenting struggles. Still, it's important to remember that everyone's problems are real and can be overwhelming. regardless of their support system.

Indeed, on Monday at my doctor's appointment, I nearly burst out in tears from the sheer weight of being pregnant, being sick and being tired. The only thing that kept the tears at bay was the fact that I work for the same system that provides my care and I needed to keep it together!

Public Acknowledgement of My Support System

As I mentioned above this past week, I've had the cold from hell. I even missed work because of being sick. Also, our son has been off from preschool. Apparently, private school is more rigorous than public school and require an additional week of decompression time. Our daughter has been mad all week that she has had to go to school and has yelled, "It's not fair!" more than a few times this week. Who can blame her, right?!

Despite being sick and my son being off from school I haven't been too stressed because my mother-in-law and husband's aunt have been watching our son. Indeed, as I have battled this sickness for the better part of two weeks, I have been relieved of a great deal of my child care responsibilities. I have had the luxury of being able to rest and fight this thing so that I can get my strength and energy back to push this baby out in three weeks. 

I will be eternally grateful for the love, fun, and adventures that my son has enjoyed this week. He's enjoyed it so much he actually wants to move to their house. However, I am mom enough that his desire to do so doesn't make me feel at all insecure. Indeed, if I don't shake this cold all of the way by tomorrow, I might just pack his bag!

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