Work, Life, Growth

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog post and there are several reasons for that, but the biggest reason is that life has been busy. So much has changed since my last blog post, and I am actually in a place where I am happier than I have been in a long time. So, what has changed?

1. Instead of two children, we now have three.
2. I resigned from my previous position.
3. I started my own business.
4. My husband has added a new area in his career.
5. We are officially a homeschooling family.
6. And, we have more chickens!

Needless to say, things have been busy and occasionally a bit stressful. Still, this has been a season where I have been able to reclaim my time and focus both on my family and the career that I want to have as a physical therapist. I am able to dedicate much more time to my family and do more than the mad dash from dinner to bath-time and bedtime. It has been a season of a very unique balancing act, and I’m sure that I have dropped a few things or fallen short during this circus act. But, that is okay because we are happy, healthy, and have all of our needs met.
I say all of that to say that the reason why I named this blog “Work, Life, Empower” was to speak life into my own situation and hopefully to others around me. I purposely avoided using the cliché “Work, Life, Balance” because balance for me indicates that everything is functioning properly and that I am maintaining everything in a cumulative order of equilibrium, and that just is not the case. The decision to use the word empower was key because it symbolizes a sense of boldness, inspiration, and encouragement. And who doesn’t need a little bit of empowerment through sharing what is going on in life so that others realize they are not facing the chaos of life alone.
Now that I’ve shared a bit more about the name of the blog, let me go back and share a bit more of the chaos of our current season and go into a bit more detail with each change I listed above.

1. Life with three children is a lot of fun, and a lot of people who need mommy. Life with toddlers means that they are excited to show you every skill they have mastered or at least attempted. So, I hear “Mommy, look at this” on repeat as I give reminders that the couch isn’t for the next Olympic tumbling pass. I hear “Mommy, I need help” as they realize that they aren’t as independent as they initially thought. I hear “Mommy, can we have a dance party” and I’m expected to dance, and they will happily tell you that it is a verb. “Mommy, I’m sleepy” (Yep, me too kids). Notice, I haven’t mentioned our youngest one. Just know that all of this is taking place while our newest is in my arms, strapped to me, or at the boob. And, it isn’t uncommon for me to be trying to give everyone my attention while pumping so that the baby will have bottles as well.

2. I guess, I can say I was a part of the “Great Resignation” that occurred during the midst of the pandemic. While pregnant with baby number three, I had determined that I needed more time with my family. I would get home some nights just in time to say goodnight to my kids. This was not what I wanted, and it began to weigh very heavily upon me. I had an amazing staff that worked alongside me and was able to treat my physical therapy clients, which I really enjoyed as well. Still, I was burned out and struggling to fulfill the needs of our family to a standard that satisfied me. There are several reasons I resigned, but family was a big factor.

3. In the midst of resigning from my previous position in order to spend more time with my family, I decided to also pursue my own physical therapy practice. Now, I know you’re probably wondering why I would take this step if my goal is to spend more time at home. Well, I am able to do just that and also provide a level of care to my clients that was previously hindered. Rather than seeing on average 12 clients a day, my business allows for me to see 10-15 clients a week. I am also able to spend more time with the client rather than having my attention divided between several different people. This has allowed for me to better provide individualized care and to actually see and hear the person I am treating. I am able to focus on community engagement and educational opportunities for topics in which I am passionate. I am able to perform virtual based services as well. I can accomplish all of this and schedule around the needs of my family. Yes, I am sure that I work more now than I did before. Yet, the flexibility of being able to be “Mommy” more during the day and the ability to treat my clients without being confined by the typical corporate healthcare constraints have been amazing.

4. In order to keep this next point short, let me start by saying my husband is amazing. In the midst of supporting my decision to become a working and partially stay-at-home mom, he was undergoing career adjustments. My husband has several projects in the works and some that I am not able to disclose as of yet. However, he does various production-based projects both as a contractor and an individual. He has his real estate license and works with a local broker on marketing-based concepts, including serving as the host for a real estate podcast. And most recently he has become driven to help people better understand mortgages and loans, which led him to getting his mortgage loan originator license. He has become passionate about explaining the vernacular of buying a home and creating content to make it easier for people to understand. He is doing all of this, while helping to navigate our home life with three tiny humans and supporting my professional growth. (Shameless plug because I know his drive to help others…If you want to learn and actually understand the jargon associated with the mortgage world, I encourage you to check out his material on Youtube. His main goal is helping people understand what they are signing up for when they commit to a mortgage and when owning a home.)

5. Just in case you didn’t think we were already insane, we are also homeschooling our kindergartener and our three-year-old for pre-K3 (Yes, the baby is home in the midst of this madness as well). Learning to tell time on an analog clock paired with basic arithmetic and learning basic world geography with history has taught me, I meant to say my children, a lot. We decided to home school for these grades for several reasons with the biggest reason being that our four-year-old is reading and we did not want her to have to wait another year to start the kindergarten process when she appears socially and mentally ready. We take frequent trips to the library and utilize their free resources and do homeschool group outings to meet and learn with other families. It is not uncommon for our living room floor to be covered with lesson plan materials, school supplies, and random maps. When my husband and I have meetings or clients, we tag the other parent in and sometimes we have to call in reinforcements to help (shout out to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who occasionally watch the tiny humans). Nonetheless, we manage and I’m always impressed with how amazingly smart our kids are as they teach me facts about dinosaurs and astronauts.

6. And last but not least, the chickens. We have five chickens that are currently laying and thirteen that will be laying in the springtime. Yes, we have 18 chickens and live in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Why mention the chickens as a major change? Well, one I am still in shock that I am enjoying suburban-country life. Two, because I am really excited that we don’t have to buy eggs anymore!

If you made it this far, then you can see that nothing for us is in equilibrium, but it is a balancing act. Hopefully, you can see some of the things that we value and that shape our lives. More importantly, I hope what I call the joyful chaos of our life will empower you to orchestrate the life you desire. Even if your desired life looks different from ours, with dedication you can take one step and move towards that direction. Ultimately, you can shape your life and mold it into what you would like. It is dynamic and in a constant state of change, so it is okay to take the scenic route and for it to change from the original plan.