Supporting Working Moms

Over the past year, more than 2 million women left the workforce at a rate four times higher than men. COVID-19 and its effects on the economy, the school system, and family dynamics have taken a disproportionate toll on working moms.

In August and September 2020, there was a sudden drop in the number of women with children in the workforce. The two groups with the largest workforce decline were women with two children and women whose oldest child is 2 to 6 years old.

As a female-founded and majority women-owned firm, Access Sciences strives to be a champion for working moms and their ability to balance work and home life. Our team would like to show support for all the dedicated, hard-working moms by highlighting some of our own:

STAR STEFKA-BORG

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER + MOM OF ALEX (16) AND ALLISON (10)

Star is a working mom of two kids and a “pandemic puppy,” Elsa. Since COVID-19 disrupted normal day-to-day activities, things have been quieter in the Stefka-Borg family.

“It was challenging before COVID because there were more school activities,” Star said. “I kind of miss it because I feel like the kids are missing out on life experiences and that kind of makes me sad.”

Because of the pandemic, Alex and Allison mainly go to school and come home – and that’s it. Most of their afterschool activities have been put on hold, which makes it hard to see their friends and even family members.

For example, Alex was confirmed at church a couple weeks ago – an important rite of passage that would usually call for grandparents, godparents, and other family members to come into town to attend and celebrate. But, because of COVID-19 protocols, only Star, Jason (her husband), and Allison could attend.

Allison used to be heavily involved in afterschool activities like the chess club and basketball, but this past year, her school temporarily paused all clubs and competitive sports. Thankfully, she has been able to virtually participate in Girl Scouts and even sell cookies from their driveway and a booth at church.

According to Star, balancing work, school, and home life isn’t necessarily the hardest part about being a mom right now – it’s managing the stress level of the pandemic. The ability to hang out with friends and spend time with the extended family has been minimal for more than a year now. Those things were a way to take a break, relieving stress that comes from school and work.

But, despite the stress, there are some positive things that came out of the pandemic.

“I think we spend more time as a family now than we did back then,” Star said. “Before, the kids did more stuff with their friends and then my husband and I would go out.”

The Stefka-Borg family even added a new member to their family – a pandemic puppy named Elsa. Star’s kids had always wanted a dog, and it seemed like the perfect time since Jason was working from home full-time. Even though Elsa can be a distraction when it’s time to get some homework done, Star said she’s been such a great addition to the family.

When Alex was young, Star began to set hard stop and start times at work for herself. Before becoming a mom, she would sometimes work twelve-hour days and be in the office until 2 a.m. Now, she really values a healthy work-life balance. Once she gets to work, she sets her daily goals and strives to accomplish them all in that 8 to 5 timeframe.

“When I’m at work, I’m head-down the whole time,” Star said. “Because when I leave here, I go pick someone up from school. Then we go home, and there’s dinner. Once I’m home, my mom job starts.”

SAPANA RAUT

CONSULTANT + MOM OF AARUSH LEO (6) AND ANVEER TIGER (3)

When the pandemic led to a new work-from-home and learn-from-home lifestyle, working mom Sapana had to shift her schedule significantly. Some things became easier with the new schedule, and some things became more difficult to manage.

“Imagine having two kids at home all the time,” Sapana said. “Sometimes they are so loud, sometimes they are so cranky, and sometimes they are so good. It’s unpredictable right now.”

Before COVID-19, Sapana worked in the office most of the time, enlisting the help of grandparents or daycare to care for Aarush Leo and Anveer Tiger during work hours. Even then, there were a lot of competing responsibilities to manage.

When her older son, Aarush Leo, was still doing school in person, Sapana had to participate in his class activities like organizing the Halloween or Valentine’s Day parties. These were usually held during work hours, so she often had to plan her work schedule around those events. It wasn’t always easy, but it was manageable thanks to a company culture that supports a healthy work-life balance.

Now, both Sapana’s job and Aarush Leo’s school are virtual for the time being, which means everyone is at home together all day, every day.

“There are so many times where I just want to be like, ‘Hey, watch TV while I’m in a meeting.’ But at the same time, I know that’s not a good way to parent,” Sapana said.

Things can get very hectic at home between the two boys and Sapana’s work schedule. Aarush Leo and Anveer Tiger will be best friends for two hours while they play, and then things can get sour. If you ask Sapana what her two boys do to keep busy while she’s in a meeting, she’ll jokingly say “They fight, a lot!”

One thing that’s really helped Sapana as a working mom is setting a daily routine with time allocated for self-care, work, family, and hobbies.

She starts her day early at 6 a.m. so she can have time for herself. She goes to the gym and then comes home, spending 30 minutes doing nothing (not even looking at her phone) before she starts the day.

Then, using the time she would usually take to travel to the office, Sapana makes the boys breakfast and sets up her older son’s at-home classroom.

Finally, it’s time to start the workday. The competing priorities unveil themselves when, sometimes, Sapana’s working and Aarush Leo comes to her for help with his homework assignments. According to Sapana, in-person school is definitely easier for her son because he’s able to see friends and better communicate with teachers.

“Online school is kind of tough on him most of the time,” Sapana said. “Right now, he only has one half an hour class – that’s it. Then he will have all these assignments, and he’s in kindergarten, so he doesn’t even know how to read them.”

Then by 6 p.m., she’s usually done with everything at work. So, from then until 8 p.m., she gets to spend time with her sons and her husband. They will either watch a movie, play board games, and (if the weather’s nice) go hiking or play outside together.

After the kids go to bed, Sapana manages her pizza business which she calls her hobby. She started her journey to manage a Marcos Pizza when she was at home for two to three months, waiting for Anveer Tiger to be born. She wanted explore what business was like, and she wanted to start something simple that she could do herself. Now, two and a half years later, it’s what she loves to focus on apart from her regular work and home life.

“I’m the type of person who can’t sit idle,” Sapana said. “I need my regular schedule. Keeping yourself content in any way you can will help a lot to not get stressed when things are going crazy.”

SARAH BYBEE

DOCUMENT CONTROL LEAD + MOM OF MADISON (13) AND JACKSON (10)

As a working mom of two, Sarah experienced a whirlwind of a school year as her kids’ classes went from 100% virtual, to 100% in-person, to a hybrid mix of the two – then back to 100% in-person.

“We just take it one day at a time, honestly,” Sarah said. “It’s challenging, but we just get through it.”

When the pandemic first forced schools to shut down, Madison and Jackson transitioned to full-time online classes. Since Madison was older, it was a bit easier for her. But Sarah had to stay on top of Jackson to make sure he turned in all his assignments and attended all his classes.

At the time, Sarah was also full-time online for work, which made it challenging to balance that work and home life. Not only did she have to keep track of all her work meetings, but she now had to keep track of her kids’ classes too.

“Not going to sugarcoat it – it was hard,” Sarah said. “We were all sitting in one room so I could go back and forth between it all. It was difficult.”

However, the 100% virtual wasn’t the worst learning set-up for Sarah and her kids… the hybrid classes were.

In that set-up, Madison and Jackson only went into school twice a week. The school district had divided schools in half by last name, and the students would switch off  between going to in-person classes and doing online assignments. Because of that, teachers had to teach the same lesson two days in a row, and students only received 50% of the curriculum during that time period.

“The hybrid – that was tough for them,” Sarah said. “It either just needed to be 100% online or 100% in-person. It was too difficult to go back and forth.”

Sarah said her personal struggle as a working mom is that she’s a neat freak, and she often feels like the house must be clean all the time. It took a while for her to realize that as an employee, a mom, and a wife – you just can’t do it all. So, she works to reprioritize and take it easy on herself every day.

“As a working mom and wife, just be a little bit easy on yourself,” Sarah said. “You’re doing great.”

Access Sciences would like to thank all the dedicated, hard-working moms for their valuable contributions both at home and in the workforce. In honor of International Women’s Day, take the time to show appreciation for a working mom in your life.