Balancing Act
Going to work with mom has it's perks for 4-year-old Chester Spohn.
Daphne Spohn, his mother, works three days a week at her parent's business: Mazzanti's Beans and Cream on Route 8 in Center Township.
“There's always a fight in the morning about why he can't have ice cream for breakfast,” said Spohn, 36, of Summit Township.
Like many mothers in the workforce, Spohn sights “balance” as a priority.
Most strive to make time for a job well done while still logging in quality time to watch their children grow and tend to their needs.
“And time for myself ... I always forget that,” said Spohn, who also has a 9-year-old daughter named Delaney, and she's attending Butler County Community College to become a nurse.
The life of a working mother in Butler County, as described by Spohn and other women, is hectic and challenging but fulfilling.
Without exception, every mother interviewed described their lives as “blessed.”
Long gone are the days when full-time mommys are in the minority.
Women now make up nearly half the American workforce. And, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 70.8 percent of mothers with children under 18 participate in the labor force.
The rate jumps to 76.5 percent once the youngest child is age 6 or older.
But that doesn't make it any easier.
According to a 2005 Pew Research Center survey, 4 in 10 working mothers with children younger than age 18 said they always feel rushed, and another 52 percent said they sometimes feel rushed.
Comparatively, 24 percent of the public said they always feel rushed.“Time management is my greatest challenge,” said Ruthi Orloski, 41, of Oakland Township.Orloski, a full-time secretary at Butler County Community College Education Foundation, said a good portion of her free time is spent driving her sons, 12-year-old Reece and 8-year-old Evan, to their activities, which include baseball and football.Although Orloski names camping and decorating as her hobbies, she said she doesn't mind letting those activities take a backseat for her boys.“Really, the thing I most enjoy doing is watching the kids' sporting events,” she said.Orloski said now that her children are a little older, and she doesn't have to work day care into the agenda, time is a little less tight.But still she said one of her greatest assets is help from her husband, Rob, who runs his own landscaping management company.Kacie Umpirowicz, 29, of Forward Township says she draws assistance from her mother, Kathy Umpirowicz.“Any time I need help, she picks up the slack,” said Kacie Umpirowicz, who juggles two young children, a full-time job, attends college and maintains her own business.The ex-Army wife and divorced mother of two children, Jonah Waugaman, 4, and Sophie Waugaman, 3, is a customer service representative at the Verizon Wireless Call Center in Cranberry Township.She also attends the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and will graduate in November with an associates degree in Web design and interactive media.And she co-owns Racie Designs, a Web page and graphic design business, with her friend, Rachel Haben.“People ask me, ‘How do you do it, going to work and school (with two children)?'” she said. “I haven't been giving them an answer. I just do it.”A typical day for Umpirowicz is waking up about 6:30 a.m. and getting her children dressed to take to her day care provider in Cranberry Township. She then returns home to get ready for work.Because her shift ends after 5 p.m., her parents pick up the children from day care. Her mother also takes Sophie to her dance class on Saturdays and will take the children out to lunch.In between work, Umpirowicz gets her homework and studying done.“Right now, my shift is a later shift, so I don't get to see the children as often as I would like,” said Umpirowicz. “I try to spend every free moment I have with them. I wish I had more time with them.”
Like Spohn, Jodi Brennan, 34, of Cranberry Township sometimes brings her children to work.Brennan has been a funeral director at her family's business, Young's Funeral Home in Butler, for seven years.“With our business, there is no set schedule, and thankfully I have the help watching my children when the schedule does call for nights and weekends,” said Brennan who has a degree in marketing from Slippery Rock University. “Being a funeral director is a very rewarding job, being able to help the families I serve during such a hard and sad time.”For the most part, Brennan said her children, 5-year-old Lainey, 3-year-old Eden, and 1-year-old Brady, go next door to visit with Brennan's grandmother during her workday.“They love coming to work with me. Sometimes, they have to actually come to the office with me and hang out for a little while. I'm not sure they really understand what I do, but I do want them to know that death is a natural part of life,” she said.For new mothers who work, Brennan's advice would be to leave the guilt behind.“Know that you are doing what is best for your baby and your family. You just need the balance of working and being a mother.“Not everyone has the ability financially to stay at home full-time. If you are a mom and need to work, you should be proud that you are doing what you need to help support your family,” Brennan said.“In all honesty, if my husband and I made adjustments, I could stay at home full-time with my kids, but I choose to work because I know what I do is helping others. And I wouldn't have it any other way.”
