May 11, 2020 -

Last Thursday started like a typical workday - with a Spark 101 meeting - but it was anything but typical. First, the meeting took place via Zoom and, unlike pre-COVID meetings, I had to make plans for my daughter while I was in the meeting. The “plans” included rules like:

·       “Don’t talk to me when I am speaking during the meeting. It means I’m unmuted.”

·       “Stay out of the camera if you need to ask me something” and

·       “Your math better be done by the time I’m off the call.”

After the meeting, I balanced my multiple roles as homeschool educator, employee, parent project manager and mom. I taught a lesson on subtraction with regrouping, explored Spark 101 partnership opportunities in Arizona and Texas, helped design and build a camping diorama, talked about how to manage big emotions, and finally read Chapter 3 in The Mouse and the Motorcycle. This all happened before lunch!

This crazy balancing act probably sounds familiar to millions of working parents worldwide but especially to mothers who- due to social distancing- are without their villages right now.  A LinkedIn contact founded Mother’s Monday- the day after Mother’s Day- as a day to honor working mothers and the crazy balancing act we have to do. To quote the linked Forbes article, “ Brought together by a group of mothers – business leaders, activists, researchers and entrepreneurs – the day’s events will promote gender equity and work to redefine the relationship between motherhood and work.”  Working moms - We thank you. You are doing a great job.

The Mother’s Monday movement inspired me to nominate mothers everywhere for our #SparkSuperhero campaign. We’re continuing to highlight individuals and organizations going above and beyond during this difficult time. If you have someone in mind, we would love to have you nominate them so we can help share their stories.

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