Let's begin here with a little glimpse at the life of Anna, me.
Until October of 2020 these are the career titles I had held:
Student
5th Grade Teacher
Athletic Director
School Technology Advisor
Middle School Teacher
Coach
College Admissions Program Manager
Credit Union Outbound Sales Manager
Credit Union New Member Advisor Manager
Sales Coach
Sales Enablement Specialist
Service and Sales Specialist…
In October of 2020 I earned a few new titles. Let me list them here for you:
Mom
New Mom
Boy Mom
Working from Home Mom
Breastfeeding Mom
Crunchy Mom
Trevett's Mom
I had received the most incredible promotion of my life. Other than being a wife, this was the only title I ever really longed for and I had been dreaming about our children for as long as I could remember. This tiny bundle of sweetness made my heart swell every time I kissed his face. I HAD ARRIVED. This was my life's calling and it was finally coming to fruition. Wife and Mom.
Yet even in this season of all things wonderful, suddenly, everything in the world mattered so much more, and at the same time anything other than holding and loving my sweet baby seemed completely insignificant. Everything felt heavy. I desperately wanted to make the most of this beautiful life, but quickly a few more titles were added:
Overwhelmed Mom
Postpartum Anxiety Mom
Sleep Deprived Mom
Crying All the Time Mom
Pretending to be ok Mom
Worrying Mom
Have you been there?
Do not take out your notebook, I do not have any true tips for you. Every single part of this first year was difficult. Even the good days.
As I mentioned, I was desperate to make the most of this life, and one of the pieces I was desperate for was the ability to stay home with my boy. I did not want to miss ANY of these moments. I did not want the only moments I had with him to be also spent catching up on chores, or household tasks. I didn't want someone else seeing those precious smiles all day instead of me. Along with those normal mom feelings, I also had a baby who NEVER slept…NEVER…NEVER. A baby who wanted his mommy ALL. DAY. LONG. and ALL. NIGHT. LONG. A baby who would only close his tiny eyes if he were nursing, and refused to take a bottle or pacifier. A perfectly precious boy that I couldn't get enough of, but seemed to be slowly trying to kill his mother.
As a fierce mama, I decided to work to make this possible in any way I could find. I would be a stay at home mom eventually, if not fulltime, at least parttime. Instagram seemed to be the most viable and flexible option available to me at the time, and a few friends encouraged and mentor me as they had begun to grow their accounts into an influential status. I asked them for tips, flipped my account from private to public, and began making awkwardly long and boring videos to post as my story. My account would be about what I knew, what made me unique…what in the heck was that? I am so boring…
Enter Mike, my husband…my super hott and talented carpenter. @WiscoCarpenterWife would be my handle, and sharing the amazing work he does, that I so admire, would be my game. My life was most exciting because of what we had together, so I would find a way to make that interesting to other people.
New Title:
Instagram Mom
It was not easy, but we made it work. I worked my fulltime job from 8-4:30; during breaktimes, before and after workhours, I was creating social media content, which was also inclusive of anything that I was doing throughout the day, I had to be able to combine my life as a homemaker with home building content because logistically it was the only way.
@WiscoCarpenterWife - "Custom Homebuilding and Homemaking - The Simple-Joyful-Heartwarming"
I started with 170 followers on "The Gram"- my goal was 2,000 by the end of the year. In August of 2021, I broke 1,000. I had worked hard for this, and it was a BIG DEAL. I had a few affiliate partnerships and made a few bucks here and there. I built a network with other "grammers" who also became my friends. This was a part of my life where I was in control and I was in the groove. I could do this. I was doing this. Was I sleeping, NO, but that wouldn't be for much longer, right? Trevett was almost 1, we would be weaning soon and that would help with his nightwakings, right?
In July, I received an offer to work from home as a Talent Strategist. This would offer me more flexibility in my schedule and ultimately more time with Trevett. It was a no-brainer. I accepted the offer.
New Title:
Talent Strategy Consultant
It was new, it had learning curves, I was home more, my schedule was more flexible. I had an amazing professional mentor.
September came in and things tanked. Trevett had never been sick in his life. He turned 10 months and for 6 weeks he battled 2 ear infections, RSV, and Covid. UGH!
New Title:
Fired Mom
Unemployed Mom
The company that told me I was doing such a great job, and how much of an asset I had become to the company suddenly thought I wasn't committed because of the time I had taken off to care for my sick boy. It was shady. Really Shady. I ultimately learned that there was false documentation created saying conversations had been had with me with people in the company I had never met. I was fired. By my bosses boss. My mentor didn't know. HR wasn't present. I was just…fired. I was broken.
I had been busting to the point of near insanity…and now this…this was it, this was all I could take…
October 2021
New Title:
Cancer Mom
…what in the actual?!
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