Fab Mom: Erin Celello
Boy mom Erin Celello is the owner of The 5th Semester, a writing program for anyone–from the aspiring to the accomplished writer–who wants to pen a book and needs help getting from inspiration to publication.
Mom of: Zeke, 9; and Max, 7.
Hometown: Iron Mountain, MI
Favorite ways to spend family time in WI: We love skiing (Cascade Mt.) and hiking (Devil’s Lake is a family favorite). My boys are obsessed with fishing, so I bought myself a SUP to hit the water with them. And they’ve recently taken up skateboarding, so we spend a whole lot of time touring the local skate parks as well.
Your most rewarding motherhood moment: Oh my gosh, how do you choose? Honestly, though, as hard as this past year has been in so many ways, it has also been unbelievably rewarding. Over and over again, my boys surprised me with their resilience, their pluck and their gratefulness. Even on the toughest days, they found so much joy in the littlest things – mastering the making of chocolate-chip cookies, or finding frogs and worms on our walks, or impromptu dance parties. Birthdays, Christmas and most everything looked different, but they continually embraced the beauty in what was; they never seemed to dwell on how things had been before. I’ve honestly loved this quiet, secluded year with them, and I learned so much from them about letting go, going with the flow, and what’s actually important.
Biggest challenge as a mom: Time. Like so many moms, I am constantly trying – and usually failing – to balance parenthood and working outside the home. It’s a struggle that’s slowly getting easier as my kids age, but I still feel perpetually behind, like I’m unable to give my all to my family or my job. So, I’m often up late into the night finishing work that didn’t get done during everyone else’s waking hours, folding laundry or getting organized for the next day, or I try to beat them up in the morning to have time to work and think before everyone needs something from me.
A mother who inspires you and why: My own mom. She’s just a force of nature. I’ve never heard her say “I can’t.” Instead, she just does. I don’t think she’s ever faced a challenge, large or small, she hasn’t met head-on. She’s also this incredible jack-of-all-trades: she’ll make the most delicious homemade pasta and meatballs you’ve ever had, and then head out into the woods with her chainsaw. She didn’t have the easiest life growing up, and I always had this sense that she was determined to give us and do for us all the things her own parents did not or were not able to do for her. I’ve never doubted her love for me, her unwavering support. She let us fly, and sometimes we’d crash. And then, she’d be there to help us stand up and dust off. I’m the mother I am because of her. From her, I’ve learned the value of doing things right the first time, to be continually resourceful, and what it means to support my own kids while giving them the freedom to soar and to make mistakes, knowing that both are equally important.
Best piece of advice for a new mom: It’s a piece of advice I received from my former Department Chair at UW-Whtiewater. One day, I was in her office for a formal review, and she started things off by asking how my book was coming. I promptly burst into tears. Now, I’m not a crier. But I had two kids under the age of two, was commuting (with them) two hours each day for work, teaching a 4/4 load, and dealing with some serious health issues with one of them. I wasn’t sleeping, and I wasn’t writing. The stress to do better, to do more, was enormous. And the dam just broke. When I got myself together, she said to me, “There will always be a book to write. Your kids will only be this age once.” Not only have I never forgotten those words, but I think of them every time my kids want me to build a fort with them or take a bike ride, and because of that advice, I make the choice to put my work aside whenever I can. There will always be emails to return and work to do, but my boys seem to be growing faster and faster by the day. I want to relish every moment I can.
Your biggest hope for your children: That they are kind to others, and the world is kind to them in return.
How are you celebrating Mother’s Day: We’ll be together with my whole family – my parents, my sister and her family, and my husband’s parents – for the first time in more than a year. We’re a family that loves to cook, and I’m so looking forward to making pasta with them and sitting around the table for hours again.