Hi there beautiful, strong woman.
I’m just going to take a quick moment to introduce myself.
I’m Kate. I’m a stay-at-home mom.
I made the decision to leave my corporate job after having my first baby. And guess what? It was hard. If I’m being honest, I felt like I was letting people down. Letting down my co-workers, my friends, and everyone who loved and supported that pre-kids version of myself. And maybe, just maybe, I was even letting myself down.
But you know what I was most concerned about? Deep down? I worried about what my kids would think.
When they thought of their mom, would they see an example of someone who worked hard? Someone who had perseverance, passion and a strong work ethic? Would they see someone who was strong AND kind?
I was worried that those traits I valued so much would get lost in my life as a mom.
I’m not going to sugar coat this. I still worry. I still worry about all of those things.
But three years into this motherhood thing, here’s what I know too.
I know that at home my kids will see me working. They’ll see me working for our family, they’ll see me working for my health, they’ll see me working for my business and they’ll see me working for our home. They’ll see my decision to stay at home in a very tangible, real way.
But I also know that my kids will see examples of strong women all around them, because my life is full of them – and that’s where you come in. They’ll know that my decision to stay home was one that was made together with my partner, in the most collaborative way. They’ll know that my decision was only one possible outcome.
Because all around them they’ll see other, equally amazing, examples of strong women. They’ll see examples of women following their passion in the workplace, with supportive partners beside them. They’ll see examples of solo women making a mark on the world with their intelligence and their hard work. They’ll see that a woman’s role in this world is only limited by her own heart. That only she can know what’s right for her, and that the only people who should have an opinion about how she lives her life are those that she’s committed to living her life with and for.
So, thank you.
Really, thank you. Thank you for bravely making the decision that’s right for you. Thank you for living with strength and kindness. Thank you for showing the next generation that women can make decisions that are right for them, and that when those decisions come from a place of honesty, magic can happen.
Thank you for being part of the whole. And thank you for being a woman my kids can look up to.
xo
