Little did I know how much my life would change when I had children. I thought I was busy before I had kids but now it seems like there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish tasks and I am never “caught up”. And, my personal free time is stuck in a tar pit somewhere next to the dinosaurs. I’m sure I’m still an equal amount of busy as I was before, just in different ways. Children change your priorities, literally overnight. Things you once took very seriously, are not as critical. And, things you never paid attention to before are now front and center. I’ve found that being a working parent is challenging but so rewarding. And most importantly, it teaches you to not take yourself too seriously.

You might be a working parent if:

∫ Your hostage negotiation skills are improving every day. Your resume of successful situations diffused includes the “He Won’t Give Me My Favorite Lego Person With the Blue Pants” hostage crisis of 2017.

∫ You successfully facilitated a meeting with key stakeholders, but can’t remember if you already wore these socks yesterday.

∫ You mix up your grocery list with your staff report.

∫ Deodorant. Did you remember to wear deodorant today? How about yesterday?

∫ You’ve learned to find peace with the number of cobwebs by the door because it gives you something to count while you’re waiting for your kids to put their shoes on before school. Even though you’ve been asking them to put shoes on for the past 15 minutes.

∫ You find yourself hiding in the breakroom to down a banana-applesauce squeezy pack at lunchtime, because stocking up on adult groceries skipped your mind.

∫ One of your biggest fears is to accidentally announce a break during a workshop or meeting as a “potty break”.

∫ You’re getting really good at counting cereal very slowly. When your kids bring home the “100s Day” instructions to bring in 100 of something for the 100th day of school; you briefly consider just sending them in with the new bottle of 100 count ibuprofen you just bought. It would be so convenient, someone else already counted them and the lid is childproof. But instead you patiently help them count out 100 pieces of the closest appropriate item, like Rice Crispies. This is of course done after you’ve stood by the back door counting spiderwebs and now you’re late for school drop-off, because you forgot about 100s Day. You’re still not sure how this translates to the workday but you’re sure there is a lesson in this somewhere.

∫ The googly-eye art projects on the wall from your kids are more valuable to you than your diploma or professional awards.

∫ You answer very serious work emails while in the background, Dora the Explorer asks if you’ve seen Swiper the Fox.

Life takes each of us down a different, unique path. Mine happens to include work and kids. I realize that other paths are different than mine. Over the years, one of the things that has made my path easier is the support of coworkers. Right from when we first found out we were pregnant with our daughter, to experiencing a miscarriage, to now while we are parenting two school-aged children; the people I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside have shared advice for tending to fevers, compassion when you’re having a bad day, and even carseats. One of the many reasons why Alpena is home to so many is because this is a great place to raise a family. While not immune to the ills of the world; Alpena is a safe haven, insulated from much of the stress present in busier cities. I am reminded of this daily through the beauty of our natural surroundings and the compassion of friends, neighbors and coworkers.

Mary Beth Stutzman’s Inspiring A-Town runs bi-weekly on Tuesdays. Follow Mary Beth on Twitter @mbstutz.