Slummy Mummy: We thought we could have it all. Now we just want to poop alone.
Introducing Slummy Mummy, a web series. Have you ever felt that you were failing at everything? That no matter how much you planned for parenthood, no matter how much you KNEW your life would change, you are still overwhelmed with the smallest daily tasks?
I’ll never forget the day I got my first call to go back to work after baby. I was freelance, meaning I had no maternity leave or set return-to-work date. Clients (or my agents) would call, tell me they had work, and I’d be expected to leap at the opportunity.
I was in the middle of changing a blowout diaper when it happened. But that wasn’t all I was doing. See, my son was on some sort of nursing strike, meaning my girls were engorged and hurting. So I was wearing my very attractive breast pump while changing the blowout diaper. My son was crying. My husband was working out-of-town, because well, you know, diapers and breast pumps don’t grow on trees. (Damn, those things are expensive.)
My house was a disaster. I had two geriatric cats that shed like crazy and kept puking everywhere. So while changing the blowout diaper wearing a loud whooshing breast pump, I also had a robotic vacuum whirring around. Talk about multitasking.
And that was when the phone rang. I felt both relief AND dread simultaneously. Relief that I’d be back to work and making money, and dread that I’d have to find childcare.
It was the moment when my world collided. My pre-baby self and new-mother self. My newborn son came first and had eclipsed every part of my life, from sleep to sex to work. But an employer expects (rightly so) your work to come first. So how do you reconcile the two?
I don’t have any good answers. I’m seven years and two kids into this parenting gig and I’m still constantly struggling. But I’ve finally learned to embrace the struggle AND the humor in it.
And that’s why I started writing about it. That writing turned into an award-winning web series, called “Slummy Mummy.” We’ll be releasing each episode here on MomCave, so you, too, can laugh at parenthood’s perils. Stay turned for a new episode next week! And subscribe to our mailing list, so you never miss one.
Slummy Mummy Episode One | Back to Work
I made this series with the help of some wonderful friends. Here are some behind-the-scenes photos from this episode.
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- Valisa fools around between takes.
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- Assistant Director Duane hides during a take
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- Producer Brigid has all the food under control.
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- Jen and Valisa take over the nail salon.
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- Producers Brigid and Evan hang with Sound Engineer Matt
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