Doing it our way

Last week, I had a presentation in Mississauga for my new job. I don’t drive on the highway, so I asked the woman with whom I was doing the presentation (she is a speaker retained by our company to do workshops) if I could get a lift.  She replied that yes, that would be no problem, as long as I could work around the pick-up of her nanny, whom she was bringing along to facilitate the breastfeeding of her three-month old son.

I was impressed. Here’s a woman who just gave birth and who’s doing all she can to balance her career (she’s self-employed) and her parenting responsibilities. I commend her and all the other moms out there, who, whether it be in large or small ways, are performing a multitude of tasks and balancing each and every one of them without compromise.

If you read my last post, you’ll understand that I’m no prize-winning multi-tasker. However, the fact is that, despite that, I persevere, like most moms out there, to be true to myself and my family.  I think our generation of moms is learning to think outside the box in terms of career.  While many of us still work in a conventional office job (in my previous incarnation as a government lawyer, there was really no other way), there are many moms who are now trying to find other modes of employment that offer flexibility.  My employer is one of those companies that is helping this evolution (revolution?): My colleagues and I are mostly women, mostly mothers of small children, who work from home 2.5 – 3 days a week.  Our employer supports our choice to balance family and career – in fact, this balance is the theoretical foundation upon which the company rests.

My colleague from last week inspired me to congratulate the women who persevere every day to fulfill their diverse responsbilities and to simultaneously congratulate those employers who encourage and foster a flexibile environment within which to achieve our goals.