Lawyers and Motherhood

I have been grappling over what to write for the blog this Mother's Day. So much so, this post is a few days after Mother's Day.  This Mother's Day has been an interesting one for me. The women in my life, friends, colleagues, mentors, have all had a profound impact on me in the last few months. I have had deep conversations with fellow working mothers; we discuss our identities as professionals, our identities as mothers, and how we have to redefine what we thought motherhood is "supposed to be". I have learned how there is a wide spectrum of working mothers, those who primarily work to provide for their family, those who work primarily because their profession brings them great joy, and then there are the working mothers who fall into the million of places in between. I have had conversations with mothers who are empty nesters, they share how they are always a mother, but now it just looks a bit different. I have had conversations with mamas who are currently at home with their little ones and are exhausted from chasing a toddler around for the last 12 hours. 

Then there are the conversations with women who may not look like mothers on the outside or not appear to be a mother in the traditional sense- but are some of the strongest mothers I know. The women who have given birth to babies that were born into heaven. The women who serve as foster parents and are mothering someone else's child. The women who have the desire to be a mother but infertility has become apart of their story. 

In the context of all of these conversations, I realized I cannot do justice to all of these mothers, especially in one single blog post. Motherhood isn't simple. It's complex. It's messy, challenging, overflowing with joy, terrifying and the most painful experience, and yet many of us would do it all over in a heart beat.

Motherhood looks different for us all. Today I am grateful for a community that allows me to live out motherhood the way I need it to be for me and my family. And for all of the women out there, I hope you feel the freedom and find the courage to live out your motherhood in the way that best suits you and your family. I wholeheartedly believe motherhood has allowed me to be a better lawyer and being a lawyer has allowed me to be a better mother. Today I want to say thank you to all the mothers out there. Thank you to the stay at home moms, thank you to the work at home moms, thank you to the work outside of the home moms, thank you to every mom. Thank you to all of you who are out there are working hard for your families and loving your babies fiercely -- you are such an encouragement to me.