Mom, Interrupted

A writer and work-at-home mom of two pens a children's storybook on the crazy and chaos of motherhood, and finding the beauty and breakthroughs in between.
Reading Time: 7 minutes

Being a mother is tough. It’s technically not a job or a career on paper but requires real skills: multitasking, troubleshooting, managing time, people, and tasks, and more. No wonder being a mother has always been touted as “the toughest job on the planet.”

And then comes the children, who have unlimited, unbounded, and unequivocal access to their mother. Throughout the day, the mother’s workflow, routine, and daily schedule can be halted with a wail or a giggle, a need to feed or be cradled, and playtime or nappy time. How does it feel to not have a choice when the constant stream of daily interruptions becomes the norm? No one knows it better than a mom, especially a Work-at-Home Mom (WAHM).

Such is the case with Elaine Natividad-Reyes, author of Mama, Interrupted, a book inspired by her day-to-day struggles as a WAHM. In a heartfelt and wonderfully illustrated tale, Reyes tells the intricacies of being a WAHM, and why, while the saying holds true—it is one of the most challenging jobs on earth, being a mother is also most rewarding.

A DREAM REALIZED. Elaine Reyes-Natividad is a work-at-home mom or WAHM, who recently authored her self-published book, Mama, Interrupted.

Easing Into The Mom Life

Pregnant with her first child, Reyes was working full-time in a career that, as they say, others would kill for. She was a magazine writer and a beauty editor, the typical dream career—and dream life—a twentysomething would enjoy. “I loved every minute of it: the late nights, the crazy deadlines, the 10.5-hour-days, sometimes more, spent in the office, attending events, doing shoots, et cetera,” she recalls. “I also loved the freedom: I was doing what I wanted to do on my own time, earning and spending my own money on my own terms, and traveling whenever I could,” she adds.

All that changed when she decided to leave her full-time role and shift to freelance work. Swapping the office for the work-from-home life, Reyes experienced a mixed bag of emotions firsthand. “It was both easy and hard. It was easy because [when I left my full-time job], I had been working nonstop for 11 years then—so it was a welcome break. My son was only two years old then, and I wanted to spend more time with him, too,” she says. “On the other hand, it was hard because I said goodbye to my dream job and was suddenly faced with the uncertainties of freelance life. That, and the fact that I had to adjust to working at home, and not in the office, surrounded by friends. [This time,] I’m now always around my baby, and all the interruptions of home and mama life,” she says.

GOING PLACES. A glimpse into Reyes’s work behind the scenes: on her bed, a coffee shop, and wherever else the day’s demands take her.

To give up one or the other was never a consideration for Reyes, a mother of two. She grew up with role models who showed her it was possible, after all. Her mother and aunts were all careerwomen. “For me, it’s quite the norm—being a mother and a career woman,” says Reyes. “Although, up to now, I’d get questions like, ‘Who’s watching the baby?’ when I’m out and about. Sometimes, it makes me feel like I shouldn’t be out and leaving my child with someone else.”

It may have taken some getting used to, but there’s no looking back for Reyes. “Seven years later, I can’t imagine returning to the office full-time, away from my kids for long periods,” she reveals. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer first—to have my dream career—and then settle down and become a wife and mother. So I’m very thankful to be where I am now.” 

The Calm Through The Chaos

A look into a mom’s schedule is a look into a messy, unpredictable world. There simply is no better way to put it: It’s a daily to-do list of best intentions, a constant stream of motherly duties, tweaking, and course-correcting as you move along, and where being derailed and interrupted is the norm–not the exception.

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“When it comes to my kids, all my work boundaries tend to always come crashing down,” Reyes confesses. “I may be rushing to meet a deadline, but if my kids come up for a snuggle or a play break, I won’t be able to resist! As a remedy, I step out of the house or work at a cafe when I need to finish work quickly.” 

ROLES TO PLAY. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer first—to have my dream career—and then settle down and become a wife and mother,” says Reyes. “So I’m very thankful to be where I am now.” 

Between the time she wakes up, usually at 6 a.m. or 5, if her son Lucas, her eldest, has to go to school, to the time she tucks her kids to bed, by 9 or 10 p.m., is a happy chaos of Reyes trying to get work done, breastfeeding her daughter Yzzie, her youngest, and putting her back to sleep. “My daughter can sense if I’m not in bed with her, so she often wakes up and calls me to lie beside her. Then I’d [try to get work done] again, only to hear her cry five to 10 minutes later! This is one of the most frustrating parts of the day, to be honest,” Reyes admits.

Motherhood forces anyone to be sticklers with time. Reyes adds, “I’ve [become] very deliberate about the things or work that I choose to do outside the house, taking into serious consideration the time I’ll be away from my family. Like, a one- to two-hour meeting? I can do that. A three-day junket somewhere? Eep, maybe not now.” 

God’s Plan

This constant balancing act was what inspired Reyes to put out the book Mama, Interrupted in the first place, where the push and pull of the work-life balance was something she had to handle. “My ‘peak mama interrupted’ season was back in 2021 and 2022 when I was without household help,” Reyes says. “Yzzie was still a baby then, Lucas was back to face-to-face classes, and I was working as a freelancer on multiple projects. It was during that season when I first conceptualized the book.” 

The truth is, most writers dream of becoming book authors, but, as they say, life gets in the way. For moms especially, their entire family’s life can get in the way of their dreams. And while many mothers willingly put their dreams on the back burner, not all can pursue them eventually.

Reyes acknowledges how fortunate she is and sees God’s hand in orchestrating it. “As a freelancer, I’ve always had my plate and pipeline full, for which I’ve always been grateful. But all of a sudden, I was losing work,” she recalls. “Do you know how they say that when we lose something, it’s the Universe freeing up space for something new? I guess that’s what happened.”

SKETCHES AND DRAFTS. Reyes’s cousin, Eleanor Bautista, illustrated the book, with little surprise drawings from Reyes’s son, Lucas.

With time to spare, she began writing her book—a dream she never thought she could manage with her freelance commitments and the daily motherhood grind. “I’ve always been telling God that I wanted more time to pursue my passion projects—I’ve been writing for others for so long, after all, and I want to write for myself for a change—and He gave me just that,” says Reyes.

And when the path is made clear, everything seems to fall into place. That was the case for Reyes, and with determination, she used her resources to publish 100 copies herself. Suppliers also arose. “My illustrator is my cousin, Eleanor Bautista. I commissioned her to do the art—not free, too, because I believe in compensating artists’ work fairly,” she shares. “And she translated my story into visuals so well! Thankfully, the response has been very good, prompting me to print more copies to meet demand.”

What It Truly Means

Mama, Interrupted is a dream realized for Reyes, and it brings her tears of joy to hear back from her readers: “My second win is coming to light: Moms who’ve read my book are telling me how they’ve never felt more seen as mothers; how I was able to put into words how they’re feeling and what they’re experiencing, and how it made them feel they’re not alone in this.”

Even readers who aren’t mothers themselves have reached out to Reyes, sharing that the book has made them think of their own parents–who may be missing their “interruptions.” “It makes me tear up! And it makes my writer-slash-mama heart so full,” Reyes says. 

Mama, Interrupted encapsulates the struggles and joys of motherhood, working or otherwise, and seeing the beauty in interruptions. “Being interrupted can be annoying—especially if you’re elbow-deep into doing something, like for me, writing. I hate being disrupted while I’m writing, especially when my ideas are free-flowing,” she admits. “It’s one of the biggest struggles that working moms or creative moms face, as kids tend to be ready to interrupt 24/7! It can be exasperating! But as I’ve slowly learned, these interruptions won’t be there forever. We’re simply in a season rife with forced breaks and pauses, and it won’t always be this way. And when I think about how my kids are growing up, how life is slowly getting easier and less interrupted by the day, even if there are still lots of it now, I can’t help but be thankful I’m still in this season.”

Reyes writes in her Instagram, @thecontentmama: “Being a work-at-home mama means next-level multitasking, endless interruptions, chores between meetings, little bosses who don’t care about your deadlines, super late nights, and very early mornings. But also: the unlimited snuggles, random song-and-dance breaks, working while waiting for the pedia or while in school, little bosses who love you no matter what, being there for bedtime, slow mornings. It’s hard. But I choose this hard.” 

When asked what she feels is the message of being interrupted by her child, Reyes says it’s as if she is being reminded: “I’m here, mama. Let’s live life right now.”

Collage by Dannah Valdezco. Busy woman working with two kids by © Kaspars Grinvalds. Pink Scrap magazine paper by © Taisiya Kozorez. Peach ripped paper by © Andika Setiawan. Vintage letter by © imagineHarry Children’s room interior by © Africa Images via canva.com

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