Mom’s
Night Out
I
did something nice for myself the other night and it was much needed.
Local shop owner and self-claimed “mompreneur”, Jessica
Walsh of Illuminated Baby hosted a Mommy Mixer in Woodstock at Oriole
9. As stated in a recent article in the Chronogram, Jessica is
looking to create a community and I think she’s got the right idea.
http://m.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/the-amazing-adventures-of-the-marvelous-mompreneurs/Content?oid=2214810&issue=2214726
She
really has a way of putting together a great group of people and
facilitating new friendships. When I arrived at the restaurant
I was greeted by some familiar and some new faces. I was then
directed to a table with name tags where I was to write my name, my
child’s name and age. This along with another of paper of questions
was an icebreaker type of game. Not seconds after I was done
putting on my name tag I was grabbed into a conversation with two
moms eager to fill in their sheets. “How old were you when
you gave birth to your first child?” one lady asked. “What month
was your child born?” asked the other, and then the next question,
and the next. Very quickly we warmed up and began chatting
away.
Even
though the intention was for moms to get out by themselves and be
with other moms, I did notice there were actually many women with
their sweet little ones and even some dads. The dads were great,
walking around chatting, taking care of babies while the women got
together, and just being supportive. Also amongst the crowd we had
doulas, midwives, and lactation consultants mingling about. I
met women who had just very recently given birth, some who had
toddlers, some stay at home moms and some who have returned to work.
I am tending to see more and more women
reinventing their careers to suit their family life. Jessica
Walsh, for instance, is a local shop owner who offers unique and
luxury baby products, is a lactation counselor and a community
breastfeeding advocate. She is able to be with her child the
majority of the time while still being very active in her career and
in the community. I met another mom who is a financial advisor and
she is interested in reaching out in the mom community specifically,
to give guidance and resources for the growing family. Another mom
uses her skills in knitting and crocheting to create hats and other
cozy articles of clothing.
I say I am among that group
of reinventors. I loved what I did before becoming a mom and I put
all of myself into it. Now that I have a child I cannot see myself
doing that anymore so I’d like to use my skills and talents in a
way that I can have a more balanced work and family life. I have so
many ideas and blogging right now is my great start to
where I want to be. For me having the independence to get
things done within a more flexible time frame than if I were in a
traditional work environment is most comfortable for right now. I can
be there for my baby all day and go out and explore the world with
her. In my downtime I can write.
The
Mommy Mixer was a great event and it was a nice feeling to talk with
other women who have a similar mindset to exchange ideas and
encourage each other to go for it.
Not
only did I walk away with a wonderful door prize of handmade baby
hats, I also walked away with a great feeling of confidence and
camaraderie. While I was gone, daddy and baby bonded and he was
able to put her to bed by himself for the first time. Win Win!
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