My Priority

Miami was an adventure. My flowers were scheduled to be waiting for me in my hotel room when I arrived, but because of inclement weather, they were stuck in Memphis. The Miami wholesaler was closed by the time I landed in Miami and I wasn't able to get my flowers until just hours before my client needed her bouquet. Thankfully everything worked out and she loved her bouquet and her portrait session was a huge success.

When I was first asked to fly to Miami to create her bouquet, I said yes, but that we would have to do it on Thursday because I had to fly back Friday morning so I wouldn't miss my boys' first soccer practice.

That is my priority.

It's something we've really been looking forward to doing. It's their very first little activity outside of school and church. For me, these moments are priceless. They are irreplaceable. I know there will be more practices and I know they probably won't even remember that I missed it, but I can't tell you how much my heart broke when I received the text alert notifying me of the flight delay.

I love my job. I'm incredibly blessed, and most days, I really do get to have the best of both worlds - career and family, but moments like this make me sad.

Maybe it's because my mom was there for literally every single thing I ever did. She even traveled to the out of town games to watch me cheer for the boys’ basketball team. That’s dedication! She didn't work outside the home and she dedicated her life to raising me. I always want my children to feel that same devotion from me. It's the entire foundation of why I went into business for myself - so I could create my schedule and I could always attend their events.

I don’t know what else to say other than sometimes this working mom thing is hard and no matter how much we try to put the mom hat first, it doesn’t always work out that way, and it just sucks.

In happier news, this was the location of my client’s bridal portrait session!

Image: Heather Payne Photography