Working Mom Life Reversed: Meet Shira

0

After twenty-four years basking in the blessings and tribulations of life as a working mom (my daughter is 24 and my son is 20), I once again get to delight in diaper changing, finger painting, and dancing to a wide selection of toddler tunes. Nope – I’m not a grandmother. I’ve opened my own childcare center and preschool!

Now I live a very fun and meaningful “reversed” working mom life – adult conversations with my children on evenings and weekends, and playful learning and care with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers during the day. OK, there’s also quite a bit of small business owner tasks – operations, marketing, leading staff and more. Yet, at the core, I am creating a place in which I can give children and their working parents the quality care and learning I believe in.

 Shira Playing with Toddlers

When I began my journey as a parent there were no mom blogs. (I’ve since learned the first mom blog was started in 2002, the year my daughter was in first grade). I tried to read parenting books, but abruptly stopped when I read in one that I should forgive myself as a working mom if I couldn’t get to everything. For example, the author wrote, it’s really ok if you don’t get around to cleaning your garage. Clean your garage?! Honestly, it had never occurred to my sleep-deprived, overworked, constantly “on” at work and at home self, that cleaning garages was even a thing people did! Feeling more inept than ever, I tossed the book aside and vowed to stop reading the parenting books and to trust myself. 

In the beginning, I had tremendous confidence. I had a Ph.D in education and was working as a principal of an elementary school. I was so grateful and loving motherhood. I thought my educational training and experience, my passion, commitment, and energy would easily translate into superb parenting. And, then, life happened.

My children humbled me, teaching me that there are no recipes for raising children. I recognized that there would be good days and bad, mostly accepting myself and my own imperfections, while always striving to do better.

I hope through Westchester County Moms Blog I am able to share some of my unique insights and experiences. I am a “veteran” mom with the benefit of two decades worth of perspective, while still being very much in the trenches, serving working moms and the infants, toddlers, and preschoolers they love!