The Importance of Showing Up

My daughter recently had her Kindergarten class Valentine’s party and, quite honestly, I didn’t really want to go. I had a lot of work to do and attending required me to leave my job early for the day and then get some work done later that night after getting the kids to bed. But I told her I’d try to make it, so I did.

The second I walked into her classroom, her face lit up like I was Elsa. She sprinted to me and gave me the equivalent of the World’s Biggest Hug. It’s safe to say I don’t receive that same warm reception in the mornings when I’m waking her up for school, but I digress. I’ve been to her class parties before, and I know she likes me being there, but it became CLEARLY evident at this party. It caught me off guard a little, but then I thought about it from her perspective. It’s her chance to show off a little. It’s her chance to introduce me to her friends, to show me her classroom and to, in general, demonstrate what a big kid she is. We always tell her how proud we are that she likes school and works hard at it. But this is her time to actually SHOW me what it’s like to be in her element.

I took a couple of cute pictures of her playing games and eating a cookie she decorated and posted it on Facebook, like any other annoyingly proud parent. The comments that followed are what inspired this blog.

First, a bit of background. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a very small town. I am also fortunate to have made great friends through my school years who, decades later, I am still in contact with, whether it be in person or through social media. So my Facebook post basically said how I felt lucky to have the opportunity to attend my daughter’s school parties because, in my past career, I would not have likely had that flexibility.

Several of my friends from elementary school then started commenting about how they remembered my Mom being at all the class parties and field trips. And you know what? They are absolutely right. My Mom WAS there for everything. Heck, she still is! I think I sometimes take for granted how lucky I am to STILL have her there for everything with not only me, but for my daughters, too. I for sure didn’t realize the impact my Mom made on OTHER kids. How cool is it that they remember what my Mom did over three decades ago when we were in elementary school?

That’s when it hit me. The importance of showing up.

I guess I’ve always known showing up is important, in some respect. It’s the only reason I made the excruciating decision to leave my beloved 15-year career in television news. It’s a post for a different day, but family-friendly schedules are tough to find in local television news, especially for management positions like mine that required me to work nights. I quickly realized that things with my kids would just be more difficult if I stayed in that career. Things like weeknight horse riding lessons, gymnastics classes, school events… even just simple family dinners. I made the conscious decision to leave that career for another, more flexible one, strictly to be able to show up.

Does this mean I am Super Mom who makes every single school party? Absolutely not. Have I suddenly become crafty and Pinterest-worthy? It’s a miracle I even know what Pinterest is. Am I serving up delicious homemade meals every night? Ummm, no. In fact, I may have gone through the same drive-through three nights in a row the other week. My job is still very time-consuming, demanding, challenging and certainly not a free-for-all. But does this mean I may have made the right decision for my family and me when I switched careers to be able to show up more? It certainly provides me with some comfort that I may have.

You see, I still have reservations about leaving a career and co-workers I adored. I have definitely found a new career that is equally as interesting, but I often wonder if I made the right decision, simply because I worked for so many years, nights, weekends, holidays and overnights to get where I was in the newsroom. But this little Valentine’s party very unexpectedly put things in perspective for me. At least for now. So here’s to showing up, however that looks for you and your family!

Julie Breithaupt
Hey! My name is Julie and I use too many exclamation points! My husband Grady and I are attempting to raise two wild women, Mia and Reese. We live in Shawnee where our faux bulldog Marge rules the roost. My hobbies include driveway drinking, going to parks and desperately trying to have date nights. My likes include the Jayhawks, coffee, craft beer and ChapStick. My dislikes include samesiders (people who sit on the same side of the booth when no one is on the other side), jerks and grocery shopping.