Mama

I fully admit that I am a bit of an outlier here, as my blogging tendencies don't tend to run in the mommy realm. I blog, and I'm a mom - but often the twain do not meet. That said, I feel that here I can let my mommy flag fly - and so I shall.

In a similar vein, I work, and I'm a mom. I don't often think of myself as a "working mom" because I tend to feel like when I am at work, I'm a worker. When I'm home, I'm a mom. Compartmentalizing? I think so.

Often I am asked why I work. The short answer? I love work. I have worked for a long time, I've built a pretty substantial career and I've gone far - much further than I would have imagined and I've blazed a pretty significant career path. I jumped off the path for about a year, and now that I'm back on it, I'm thrilled. I'm lucky, though, in that I can work from home and strike a decent balance. I digress, though, from the point of my story.

All summer long, I have been toiling away on an enormous project at work - with an eye towards presenting this project to our entire staff. To make a long story short, last week I gave this presentation - complete with a 100-page handbook that I had written, 4 hour professional development presentation that I had developed, multi-faceted power point that I had crafted, you get the picture. Driving home, I felt this huge sense of relief - and accomplishment. Months of hard work culminating in an extraordinarily well-received day-long event run by me. My boss was thrilled.

I was thrilled. I am a worker! I love work!

Driving along, feeling fantastic, I pulled into my daughter's school parking lot. I walked through her classroom, signed her out and gathered her sweater and often-abandoned hair ribbon. I walked out onto the playground and spotted my little doll.

She screeched with glee and came barreling into my outstretched arms, snuggling into my shoulder. Mama.

That one moment eclipsed the highest work high I had felt in a long time.

I was thrilled. I am a mama. And that? Trumps work every time.