A career woman through and through, the author is surprised by the speed with which she has learned to juggle and appreciate work-related responsibilities from home while savoring ECQ with her family, especially moments spent with her lovely, strong-willed daughter recuperating from brain cancer.
By JOANNE GOLONG-GOMEZ
I’ve never been a stay-at-home mom. Most of my adult life has been about work and travel. As far as I can remember, being busy with my job has always been my “normal.” Never-ending traffic, daily meetings and presentations, engaging with hotel guests and mentoring my sales and marketing teams have always been at the forefront of my day-to-day undertakings to ensure that I deliver top-notch results for my company. Overnight, the raging COVID-19 pandemic changed all that.
When the government implemented the Enhanced Community Quarantine in mid March, my first thought was, finally, I could spend more time at home, do more house-related activities/chores and fulfill my mother duties to my little one.
As overly optimistic and naïve as it may sound, I was actually hopeful that the nationwide lockdown or ECQ would only last for two weeks before a sense of normalcy returned to the country and our everyday lives.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case (actually, it was light years away from it). All of a sudden, weeks have turned into a month, and a month has turned into two. Like countless career women and working mothers out there, I was suddenly put in a situation where I needed to find creative ways to not only be more active at home, but to devise tactical strategies and solutions that would bring business in for the hotel that I’m currently working for.
This was also the first time in my 23-year hotel career that a work-from-home arrangement—something I find a bit strange since every dyed-in-the-wool hotelier equates home, in its broader sense, of course, with the hotel we run—was put in place as a response to the current crisis. Though it remains uncharted territory for me, I was surprisingly able to adjust quite easily, as the situation still allowed me to continue to keep in touch with the market and stay connected with my work colleague, thanks to current technological advancements at our fingertips—from 24-hour at-home Wi-Fi, messaging apps and social media to video-conference calls.
Every situation, even a seemingly dire one, does come with a silver lining. While the time spent at home comes as a welcome breather for me, my focus has now shifted to ensure the full recuperation of my 11-year-old daughter Sofia from brain cancer. This meant that I have to keep her active, healthy and engaged at all times during this quarantine period. Working from home does have its perks and advantages, after all.
Being in relative isolation for an extended period of time has also led me to the realization that I’ve actually raised my daughter quite well. (Proud mom right here!) I’m currently enjoying a front-row view in understanding how strong-willed she’s turning out to be, while also learning her views in life as well as appreciating her kind-hearted ways, patience and curiosity.
It has been such an amazing moment, I’m finding out, that even without the malls, restaurants, cinemas and travel that we used to engage in during weekends and planned holidays, my daughter actually appreciates that we’re simply just at home and spending more time together.
My heart melts with her daily “I love you, Mom” and our shared laughter when everything goes wrong in the kitchen.
Contrary, perhaps, to how most fellow mothers feel, I’m definitely looking forward to something different during this year’s Mother’s Day celebration. This time, I may not receive that usual bouquet of flowers from my husband, or go on our usual out-of-home family dinner at our favorite restaurant.
But I do look forward to seeing the beautiful and fragrant flowers in our garden, which I intend to savor, the leisurely walk my family and I will take around the house, as we appreciate the birds and butterflies, the “Michelin-type” meal that my husband will prepare later in the day and, most of all, those warm hugs and big smiles that my daughter will throw my way.
And if only for such simple pleasures, this year’s Mother’s Day, could turn out for me to be the best ever yet!
The author, a veteran hotelier and sales and marketing practitioner, is the commercial director of Hilton Manila.
