I blink, check a message, prepare dinner, and suddenly, my kids are older. I hear my daughter parking in our garage, unloading a handful of groceries she picked up for me at the last minute.
My phone rings and my son’s long-distance number pops up on the screen, my baby figures out how to climb onto the dining room table.
Time flies, and I struggle to keep up.
In the whirlwind of design deadlines and family life, I sometimes long for uninterrupted focus. But then I remember the beauty of this chaos.
It’s in these messy, unpredictable moments that I find inspiration for my work.
Some days, I want to fast-forward to a time when I can fully dive into my career. But in the same breath, I want to freeze these moments, to remind my children how loved they are and to witness their growth.
My kids know that during the day I work for 14Minds.
What does Mommy really do each day? They’re not sure.
They overheard me speaking about the behavioral health facility that we recently branded. They took a peek at my screen as I reviewed a pitch deck for Chai Lifeline New Jersey’s stunning new center for families. They’ve seen drafted AI images of caregivers and loved ones.
They know that [unlike a lot of other working mothers ;] I love my job and am grateful every day for opportunities to do meaningful creative work.
They can’t tell you for certain what it means to be an art director.
BUT they can confidently tell you one thing: in and out of the office, when Mommy has extra pockets of time, she tries to do creative, fun things.
I didn’t tell them I was designing the artwork for this week’s Treeo cover… I decided to surprise them with it.
And the looks on their faces were priceless.
It's not the first time I did it, but their response never gets old.
These small, creative moments bring so much joy.
And in the midst of all the deadlines and chaos... these moments of joy make it all worthwhile.
#AIrtDirection #DesignLife #FamilyBalance