04/28/2024
I was terrified when I read stories of women online who shared that luxury for them now was sitting in the car alone for 5 minutes before picking up their kids from school or drinking a hot cup of coffee in one sitting.
I can say as a parent now, those are still not luxuries to me (though sleeping in definitely is). I have had moments of not recognizing myself. I have had periods where my business, marriage or personal life has suffered in favor of needing to prioritize my child.
I used to think this would be an abomination. My business always came first. I thought to myself, “if this ever happens, it means I have CLEARLY lost my way!”
Now I have a bit of understanding that to have a child is to be in a constant state of transition. There WILL be periods of time where you have to drop other balls in favor for your kid. When your child gets sick (and infects your household) for the third time in three weeks, you need to survive however way you can.
That may look like cancelling on a friend, giving up a professional opportunity, or sleeping with your child in your bed (even though you swore that would never be you!!) because that is the only way to survive right now.
Prioritizing survival to get through a phase does not mean you have lost yourself.
To keep reading this piece, check out my Substack “Fence Sitter”, link in my stories.
