Thursday, July 19, 2012
Guest Blog:Rosie the Riveter at it again....
Posted by
Cara
Teamwork
Now first let me explain that the concept of teamwork is foreign to me having never joined or really been a part of a team of any kind. Not being the athletic type most of my interests have always been more of the solitary kind. Now that is not to say I have not been in a situation where I needed to work with others to accomplish a goal of one kind or another. I have been on “teams” at certain times during my work life and it was always fine but I never really felt part of a team, you know a group of people all doing their part to achieve the same goal.
When I first became a mother I had expected my husband and I would be a team. Two people bound together in the struggle to at least keep him alive, alone together in a vast sea of diapers, formula and spit-up. This was not the way it went. You see, my husband felt that because we had decided that I would stay home with the prince and not return to work that the weight of parenting duties would fall on me. Fair yes but teamwork, not really. Then as our family grew to include twins and a 4 year old, teamwork was more a matter of practicality. Three of them, one of me. Dad had no choice to pinch hit when he was available, but was this teamwork, not really. It was more of a guilt driven,”she is on the edge and I better do something” kind of thing. Please don't get the wrong impression, he is a great, hard-working and loving father, but a care-taker he is not.
Well, fast forward six years and as you would expect things have changed quite a bit. That 4 year old is now a 10 year old striving for independence and the twins are now 6 year old kindergarten graduates. My children are very busy and involved in quite a few things, especially the big one and I have gotten myself involved in the typical SAHM stuff. What you would expect, PTA's, committees at school, the football league. We are the typical, over-scheduled suburban family. This got me thinking....how do we all do all of this? And the same thing kept popping into my head, teamwork. Not just as a mother and father but as a community of friends and even acquaintances. Teachers and Coaches. Other “PTA” moms. That's the team I have found myself on. When you realize you can't be in two places at once on opposite ends of town, you call on a team mate to fill your spot. Take your kid to practice and make sure he's ok. Your kid needs to be taken to band before school hours and you still have 2 little ones at home before school, your team mate takes him because she's “going anyway”. Your friend is just not up to doing some school awards thing, so you step in and get it done, because you are part of the team. You hear that a friends kid may be flirting with some cyber-trouble, you make sure she is aware of it because she is on your team and taking care of her child and making sure he doesn't make a stupid mistake is part of the deal.
I am very lucky to have found myself part of a team of Moms that care about my children as much as I care about theirs and are helping me get through this motherhood thing in more ways than I can think of. In the world we live in today, at the speed of life, it takes more than two parents to parent, it takes a team.
Cara's two cents: Agreed. I'm usually the help"er" since I have less little kids than most...but after being sick and really needing Team Mom...you come to realize how much you depend on them. Lucky moms indeed.
Cara's two cents: Agreed. I'm usually the help"er" since I have less little kids than most...but after being sick and really needing Team Mom...you come to realize how much you depend on them. Lucky moms indeed.
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