Too Many Rad Women to List
Sometimes you're compelled to write. Oddly, inspiration and gratitude strike when the chips are down.
Let's be real, though. What I'm dealing with right now are frustrations and (severe) inconveniences.
As a mom and an educator, everything is always busy. The mental load is overwhelming and ever-changing, and I think teacher-moms relate: birthdays, holidays, shopping lists, weekend plans, logistics of basically anything, phone calls and paperwork, and even trapping the escaped guinea pig in between meetings... all mine. Navigating the emotions my 12- and 10-year-old experience often requires pushing my own temporarily out of mind.
These aren't complaints. They're realities.
Also reality? My family is amazing. My husband is a complete partner in all things family-related, an amazing cook and a dishes-and-laundry-doer too.
Maybe it's strange to some of you that I go from quick mentions of inspiration and gratitude to what is annoying, but I know you also get it.
Because here's what's happening (an incomplete list, to be sure):
The last day we had a working kitchen (stove, sink, walls, anything) was SEVENTY-EIGHT days ago. No end in sight. It's gross at this point how much food we've had from restaurants. We are food people and have reached the point of just wanting water.
I had to leave a volunteer board I adore because my calendar no longer allowed for it.
The taxes are a THING. Don't even want to talk about it. It's fine and payments are fine. It's fine.
The Jeep broke. An entirely new engine. Why not.
And today, after spending four straight days preparing for a test, I took it for the fifth time. F-I-F-T-H. 5th.
Wildly, I am a good test taker. And a good writer. But I hate that kind of writing.
(Note: This is the first test in my life that I have not passed. Yet. I know. Five attempts is exhausting.)
So did I pass? Time 5?
We’ll see. What did I want? Twenty more minutes. Four hours may not have been enough today.
But here’s the thing: even in the middle of all this, what overwhelms me most isn’t frustration. It’s gratitude.
Gratitude for this community of women, almost all of whom are also moms and educators.
They send GIFs.
They cheer me on.
They acknowledge my frustration.
They send memes, satires, poetry, and nonsense.
They plan hot tub happy hour and give fresh baked pumpkin bread.
They remind me to send letters before Thursday so they’ll get to 6th grade camp in time.
They ask for pictures of the kitchen and the kids and "but for real, when are we getting together again??"
They uplift me with their texts and voice recordings and unexpected candy corn deliveries and even a surprise Long Live Rad Women shirt I opened on just the right day.
Despite their mental loads.
Despite their calendars and to-do lists.
Despite what they themselves and their families are experiencing, some of which are universes beyond inconvenience and frustration.
This community of women does truly impactful work in so many fields and still manages to be the absolute heart of everyone they love.
There are too many of you to list.
What an incredible truth of my life: too many rad women to list.
You inspire me daily and I can't believe how lucky I am to have all of you in my life.
I am certain you know who you are, no list required.
Family. Friends. Colleagues. Neighbors. My kids’ teachers.
All ages.
From all over.
And even those who are hundreds or thousands of miles away feel like they're right here on my couch, offering hugs and laughs and wine and "fuck it, tests are hoops to jump through" and "it can't tell you how awesome you are, or how great your sweet family is, or the impact you've had on your students."
Friends, I am inspired and grateful.
I hope I offer the same depth of hug-laugh-wine-fuckit support to you and everyone else I am lucky enough to know and meet.
Especially the bad ass, rad women.
