I couldn’t help but see parallels between the quarterback role and motherhood. The work that happens by both QBs and mothers is often invisible, except when it’s not. To make matters worse, social media makes it all seem effortless. The curated life is not an accurate picture; it’s a screenshot taken out of context, the trading card image of a much more complicated life.
Sometimes, our patience runs low, the team members are hungry, and we miss signals. Friendships aren’t cultivated, self-care suffers, and we beat ourselves for daily failures. Many days, we call audibles because, despite our best efforts, the planned play goes awry.
Even the most skilled athletes occasionally make mistakes – big, public ones - and we forgive them (eventually). So why is it so hard for moms to let themselves off the hook?
The stakes seem impossibly high for moms, the field generals of many families. We hold our teams together through sickness and health, significant challenges, and minor turf imperfections. But we might have something to learn from the leaders profiled in Quarterback: Life goes on, and when the day is done, your family is everything, and all you can do is your best on any day.
This is what we do.