Rosemary Pritchard is the mom and the creative force behind Hopscotch City. She's married and has 2 little girls. Rosemary has a passion for art and design and she left her job as an art director to raise her young family. Hopscotch City started as a resource for budget friendly, events for kids in Chicago. Between COVID and a big move back to Pennsylvania, Hopscotch City has evolved into a blog centered around kid crafts and activities!
Rosemary and I initially connected via Instagram which is the number one reason I love this platform. IG has enabled me to connect with the most amazing women I'm fairly certain I would not have met walking the street of Chicago. I hope you'll love reading Rosemary's motherhood journey and walk away feeling (creatively) inspired. Happy new week, mamas!
Tell me a bit about yourself before you became a mother, and how did you change after becoming a mother?
Before I became a mother, I was working as a graphic designer in Philadelphia, PA. When I became pregnant with my first daughter I wasn’t planning on going back to work for a while but another opportunity fell into my lap. I received an email from a company about a career advancement opportunity a few days after my 1st daughter was born. I cried because I was so conflicted. I decided to take the job and found a nanny share nearby. The new gig was very flexible with me and had a company-wide rule that put family first. It was such a rare find in a small company. I ended up sticking with the job for about a year and helped build out the creative department.
As much as I loved my job, it just wasn’t working for me and my family. I wasn’t happy with the little time I had with my daughter after picking her up from daycare. I also wasn’t mentally available for my family in the way that I felt I needed to be. So after one year, I quit my job. I don’t regret taking it because I gained so much experience there and it reaffirmed that I needed to be home with our baby. I am so very grateful that we were able to make it work with me being a SAHM.
What does your absolute dream version of motherhood look like?
I might be living my dream version of motherhood already! Most recently, we moved from Chicago to rural PA to be closer to family. I’m home with my kids with so much space for my girls to explore! Although, my ultimate DREAM version of motherhood would be that we are all happy all of the time and no one ever screams or whines. HA!
What societal or cultural messages about motherhood frustrate you and how would you like to see them changed?
The focus on baby after birth with little attention to the person who’s body has just gone through a major trauma! Once you leave the hospital, you have 1 postnatal checkup six weeks later, unless there is an obvious issue. Meanwhile, the newborn baby has a checkup 3 times within the first month of life then every month after that for the first year. I would like to see more postnatal, physical and mental care for women.
What do you do well? What’s really works for you? Do you have a secret? Your mom super power?
My ability to stay visibly calm (most of the time) in the midst of pure chaos is probably my mom super power. My secret? Behavior therapy! I learned a lot of great tools when we were in a parent-involved behavior therapy with my daughter.
How do you take care of yourself? How do you deal with mom guilt?
This is an area that I need to improve on. I take a long shower at night after the kids go to bed or wake up before they do to take care of myself. I try to take it one day at a time and that helps. If I’m feeling mom guilt, I talk to my husband about it and he can usually talk me down off of the ledge.
What’s a topic related to motherhood, or life after becoming a mother, that you wish we talked about more?
The never-ending laundry! I was not prepared. Kidding but not really. In all seriousness though, I wish that people talked more about trusting your gut as a parent. You know your babies better than anyone else and there’s no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to parenting style, lifestyle and wellbeing.
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