We're starting another new series and taking our tees off to the Mama's who not only work hard as a mommy but they play hard too. Each month we plan on featuring one new mommy and having them share their motherhood moments.
For our first mama we want to feature Jules. Mother and blogger of Pancakes & French Fries Take it away-
BKY: Where are you from?
J: Originally I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
BKY: Where do you live now? Why is the place you live a good place to live with children?
J: I live in southern California, in a region known as the Inland Empire. I love it here. It's a slower pace of life (for southern California) even though it's the 14th most populous area in the United States. We are 45 minutes to one hour away from everything--the desert, the mountains, and the beach--which means our weekends are full of fun family activities.
BKY: What do you do for a living?
J: I am a wife, mother, and storyteller extraordinaire.
BKY: How many children do you have?/What are their names?
J: I have two sons named Mikey and Nico.
BKY: How have you and things changed since you had children?
J: I gave up a lucrative career to be a stay at home mom, something I never imagined doing before I had children. Now I can't imagine doing it any other way. The biggest change I had to adjust to, and one I imagine most working mothers experience once they stay at home full time, is measuring my abilities in a new way. As a professional, you assign value to your performance using patriarchal standards of success: position and title, income, awards, and other tangible measures. As a mom, your kids aren't going to give you a glowing performance review or a juicy year end bonus. There are no award trips. Heck, I can rarely get a sick day! But I have learned to operate under a new standard and accept the indefinite. I don't know what I am doing all the time, and I don't even know that I am doing it "right." I just know that it is my job (along with my husband, of course) to ensure my children are taken care of, loved, and don't turn out to be serial killers.
I guess all that means I now have hope and faith. Hope that they won't have felony records and faith they will know I tried to do right by them.
BKY: Where did your most exciting trip with your children lead you to?
J: Every single dinosaur museum or exhibit within a 150 mile radius of wherever we are at the time.
BKY: What have you already learned from your children?
J: That I am not as selfish as I once thought I was and that an Allosaurus looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex but has three fingers and 80 million years seniority.
BKY: How do you balance life, work, job and family?
J: I'm still trying to figure that out, especially as my blog grows. My main goal now is to reduce my time online after the boys are in bed. You're a tempting vixen, Internet. I am lucky to have a wonderful husband who is very much involved with the day to day nuances of raising two young boys.
BKY: Please complete: to have children...
J: It is necessary to denounce the laws of physics. The days seem long but the years fly by. Relish every moment. Before you know it, they'll be bringing home someone who isn't good enough for them.
