Best Work Mom Ever

I have always been deeply suspicious with upper administrator types who proclaim that at work, we're all one big happy family.  There are dynamics found in family systems theory that might help explain many a workplace, but I doubt that many of those administrators would be happy about the findings.

I returned from vacation to find this wonderful card with a note:

Ordinarily, I might have recoiled from this sentiment:  me, a work mom?  Does that mean I seem out of touch?  Smothering?  Demanding?  Old?

Well, as a woman who will be 56 years old soon, I am much older than most of my colleagues.  At times, it's been strange to overhear conversations about bad boyfriends and similar topics that I don't hear in conversations with people my age or older.  But instead of making me wistful for my misspent youth, it's made me happy to have arrived at this further side of midlife.

The card came with a note that I will treasure forever.  It was a note of gratitude for my leadership and thoughtfulness and generosity.  In short, it made me feel valued and appreciated, not old and washed up/out.

I have often joked that in our "work family," I am the kooky aunt, the one who wears frumpy clothes and bakes amazing creations which she brings to work to share.  I've joked that I'm the kooky aunt whose family members can't decide whether to take her seriously or not, the woman with life wisdom that is both attractive and terrifying, the woman with a bag that's bursting with creativity projects.

But I've decided that being the "Best Work Mom Ever" is my favorite designation.