Card Carrying Member

When I drop Little Bug off each morning at his fancy-dancy "early learning center" (yes, it's snooty and we call it school), I enjoy seeing my fellow members of the unspoken club we all belong to:

The Professional Parent.

20 minutes earlier we had curlers in our hair and a toothbrush hanging out of our mouths while we were begging our half-naked children to show us where they hid their other socks, some obnoxious cartoon blaring in the background.

20 minutes later we will be the consummate professional, taking meetings, making deals, manipulating spreadsheets, or saving lives. Or something like that.

But at this moment, the moment we come together to drop our kids off at school, I find a lot of amusement (and fellowship). The business man who is going to broker million dollar deals has his tie slung over one shoulder and his 2-year-old son slug over the other, his hands filled with diapers, a sippy cup, and a little model train. The woman in awesome designer heels who will be restructuring a human resource department today is bent down trying to dig a booger out of her 3-year-old daughter's nose. The nurse who is singing "Wheels on the Bus" as he slowly backs toward the door. The accountant who is giving a detailed account of his child's bowel movements for the last 24 hours. The editor who stands patiently in the lobby as her little bug delights in a very loud voice over and over that the ceiling fan is "ON!"

I often feel like I am living dual lives. My life as a wife and mother, and my life as a professional. I sometimes shake my head as I am doing a "poop check" and think, how did I go from doing this to editing the writing of a triple PhD? I sometimes sit at work and can't believe I am editing some dry bit of textbook when somewhere my adorable son is learning how to jump.

It's the moments in the mornings, when I see all the other parents who are doing their best to navigate between their dual lives where I feel more normal. Those 5 minutes of half parent/half professional make the transition to my desk each morning a little easier.

That and I rarely find poop during the "poop checks."