Notes from Jo: Thankful

What a crazy year it’s been. Crazy hard or crazy awesome? That is for each of us to decide!

I got to do a lot of great things this year and most of those things include hanging out with 3 pretty damn cool people. I hate to brag but I made two of them and married the other one… did I mention they’re cool?

Pre-pandemic life as a working mom was crazy—I don’t need to remind anyone of that. There was work, snack prep, meal prep and negotiations and yelling. Sometimes those things happened at work, and sometimes they happened at home. Every day was different. For working moms, and any mom, most days are consumed by mom guilt or cuddles. Sometimes both on the same day. Pandemic life as a working mom is hard, really hard, it also has a lot of silver linings. Let's take a closer look...

Feb 2020:

Alarm 5:10 am: Workout, meal prep, get kids’ lunch packed, get a shower and coffee before family gets up. Baby wakes around 6:30 for bottle and snuggles while the toddler strolls out of bed. Toddler gets milk, I stuff food in her mouth and get us both dressed. Rush out the door by 7:40 to get to her school by 7:55 am. Walk her to the school door and make sure we didn’t forget a project or water bottle and I zip off to work. Somewhere in there I said bye to the baby I’d seen for about an hour and gave my husband a quick goodbye while he rushed to get ready too.

March 2020:

Fear, so much fear. Worry over work, health and life. So much fear but also so much hope.  Clients, colleagues and humans all over are more empathetic. There is hope all over.

April to present day:

No morning rushing. No alarms, repeat NO ALARMS. Baby, who is almost 2 now, wakes and we snuggle and watch Sesame street. Toddler strolls downstairs and catches the end of Sesame Street with us. My husband and I feed them, I get to workout at home and toddler does school from home. The baby does not get awakened from naps for a million reasons like those old days. No one rushes or yells to get dressed faster (most days). I get to see more clients than I would normally via zoom. I've connected with more new people in this industry than ever. I facetime my family a LOT. My kids have also mastered facetime and call their cousins and aunts and grandparents as much as they want. We eat meals together. We stop and smell the flowers or play in the leaves, because we have nowhere to go and lots of time to get there. Neighbors seem friendlier. Traffic is better. The sky looks clearer. My eyes are open to how many beautiful moments I have been given with my family and I will never have to give those moments back. I get to be present for Promokitchen happenings and get to talk to chefs all the time about goals and plans and about executing them.