
Allow Myself to Introduce…Myself
Hello, great internet void!
My name is Lindsay Clausen. I am many things to many different people. For starters, I’m a wife. My husband Sawyer and I have been married for almost five years. In the time since we met, almost a decade ago, we’ve moved cross-country, cross-state, lived in four different houses, adopted two dogs, and had one beautiful baby girl. It’s been a beautiful whirlwind.
Mom is another title I proudly go by. I’ve grown a lot in the four years that Astrid has been on this planet. Watching her learn, and grow into an entire person has been the honor of my life, and I swear I will never stop being awe-struck of the entire parenting process.
There have also been undoubtedly some growing pains into parenthood, and more specifically motherhood. Especially when it came to being a working mother. When Astrid was born, I was a substitute teacher— no health insurance, no paid time off. I quickly learned that the price of child care would all but zero out the amount I would earn working as a substitute. This was a slap in the face that I would come to learn is not a new reality for many mothers.
Thankfully a few months later, I was offered a job working in my field of study for a prominent university. It was perfect except for the one-hour and twenty-minute commute one way. I felt purposeful, and independent, hitting my stride in my career for the very first time. However, I was also missing out on time with my daughter. I would get up before the sun, and get home just in time to put her to bed. I really struggled with this.
Fast forward to the pandemic— my job was temporarily made remote. I was working from home and working toward a new balance. I was somewhere between loving every moment of the chaos and drowning in it. My husband was a great help- in between his university classes he would take over so I could code switch back into my career role. Often running out to grab me my favorite coffee and greet me with an encouraging smile.
I finally had what I wanted. The career of my dreams and the freedom to not miss out on my daughters big moments. My amazing supervisor saw how well I was doing working from home and offered to make the change to remote work permanent. This was a godsend for our family.
I eventually would find a balance, and I hope to share what I’ve learned in order to help other stay at home working mamas out there.
More to come!
-The Stay at Home Working Mama