After a wonderfully chaotic and rewarding journalism career, it all came to an end at 10:31 Wednesday night. At that moment, I entered into TV news “retirement” and took a deep breath…because I knew everything was about to change.
If you’ve ever noticed, a lot of women step down from the business around the same time…when the kiddos are school-age. That 2pm-11pm schedule can be brutal…there were days when I only saw my family for about 15 minutes in an entire day. Like I’ve mentioned before, it was heartbreaking when my kids would get upset that I would have to go back to work after a quick dinner. There could never be any tuck-ins…rarely did I have time to read them a book at night…I would leave before bedtime prayers. Let’s just say I felt like I was failing in the momma department.
It’s funny because the first thing on Thursday, I got a flurry of texts from my friends asking “how does it feel?”
GREAT!
I think that summed it up.
I wore my hair straight. I didn’t have to pile on a ton of thick makeup so the HD cameras were forgiving. I wore stripes because I didn’t have to worry about looking as wide as a trailer on TV. I got to hear about my kids’ last day of school FIRST! I got to see all of their end-of-year projects and go over report cards. We made dinner together. We ate TOGETHER. I read them bedtime stories. We said prayers together. And get this…I went to bed at 8:30!
It was AHHHHH-MAZING!
I woke up feeling like Snow White…more rested than I have ever been before.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute I worked in the news business. Wait…I take that back. I didn’t really care for all of the times I had to bite my tongue when I was getting nasty insults thrown my way on social media.
I was very lucky…especially at KWWL…to work with the caliber of people there. I consider most of them my family. I joked with Ron and Mark that they weren’t getting rid of me 😉
But last night right before bed, my 9-year-old looked at me and said, “This was the best day, Mom.”
I asked, “Why, because it was the last day of school?”
She said, “No…because you were home.”
Enough said.
That was a sweet thing your daughter said to you. I have learned that one of the most influential people in our life is our mother. Happy for you to be able to be there more now for them and yourself.
Congratulations on your career move Amanda! You are a great inspiration to Iowa. Your blogs and your work opened my eyes and allowed me to cut back at my job- not only to spend time with my little, but to give back to our community as well. I’m for one glad you are staying in our wonderful state 🙂 Enjoy your new role, you’ll do great!
It’s hard being a mom and never being there for your kids. It’s the little things that most people take for granted that you miss. Having dinner together as a family, being there for bath time, stories before bed, hearing about their day and bedtime……just overall family time in general. I know this first hand, my husband worked noon til 10 pm shift for about 7 years and it was super hard on all of us. Because it was reverse from your situation, but it was still hard. I was there for the kids, and he couldn’t be. So I was almost like a single mom in a sense. I had to help with all the homework, cook all the meals, all the sporting events, band concerts, chorus concerts, bedtime stories all of it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but I missed having my partner there for all of it. Congrats to you Amanda! We will miss you on the news every night, but totally happy for you and your family, especially your children ☺
Blessings Amanda! We’ll miss you but your family is ALWAYS first. Best wishes in the next steps of the journey. So glad you will continue your posts.
There will always be critics in everything we do. If you (we) can look in the mirror each evening and say I gave today everything I had and did it for the glory of God, we can forget and forgive the ignorance of those critical.
My heart is happy for you Amanda. Well done, Mom.
Congratulations Amanda! You will never regret time spent with the kids. I took that leap 4 years ago (I have 4 kids). My eldest daughter’s grades improved, and we figured out that her “behavioral problems” were not problems but seizures. Had I not stayed at home, those 2 years I missed her diagnosis (while I was working), could have been much longer. Enjoy every minute. Don’t worry about the cleaning, (because it will always be a mess I swear.) Know they will be good days and bad.
Take time for yourself, you will be a better mom for it. There will always be time to chase the career. But making sure your kids are raised well is well worth the sacrifices you will make. May God bless you and your growing family. I am sure He will have great things in store for you.
Congratulations on you new job and especially on being home more with your family. Enjoy it all.
That brought happy tears to my eyes.. and sad tears as well.. you will be missed
Good for you! And great for your family! I’ll still miss you on the news though.
I never knew you were sent mean spirited texts, etc . I wondered why you weren’t on the news anymore and missed seeing you . I remember when you announced you had hair extensions and were growing out your hair . I thought it was strange & sad that you should have to explain that to we viewers. I’m sorry you were tormented on social media & am delighted your treating yourself to being with your children. Enjoy every moment you deserve it. P. S. You were a great News anchor !