Empowerment, Motherhood & Love

Prologue: I dedicate this chapter to my mom, my fellow mothers, my sisters, my family, my fellow parents and my fellow future mothers/parents

I am CYNthia Delena Ebro Ewing-Cesari?

I am a person who loves having "a scare" (a.k.a. the opportunity to learn)

I am an "over-analytical" (caring), "adventurous" (courageous), "hot mess" (creative)

I am a “genius”, a “sweetheart”, a “ball of energy” and a…

“crazy”, “complex”, “bossy”, “b***hy” WOMAN.

ENGINEER.

MARKETER.

PRODUCT MANAGER.

TRUSTED ADVISOR.

MOTHER.

HUMAN.

I’ve traveled to over 35 countries, studied multiple languages, pushed myself to the brink of death a few times and seen death.

I am a mother to a beautiful, healthy baby.

I aspire to be a mother that diligently helps her baby to become courageous, caring and creative, while maintaining the grit to stay curious.?

And face her fears.?

And trust that I will be there when/while I can.

And trust that I will make sure she has the frameworks, tools and resources.?

And so, I literally named her C3? (a.k.a. Cataleya Céline Cesari).

I am a well-educated, award winning Mestisa who was lucky enough to find an equally impressive person, Jim, who is equally diligent and trusts me enough to share the short time we have on this earth. And like me, loves solving complex problems.?

Do you call that Luck? Karma? Or hard work??

My answer is? “It depends.”?

While I have been called many names and embraced many titles, I have spent 39 years, 7 months and 8 days to get to this moment to be able to publish this article, on this communication channel (LinkedIn).

And I hope I have earned enough of your trust for you to continue reading.??

And I didn’t get here alone.?

My mother was more impressive than I’ll ever be.?

She is "Bing", "Night Owl", Sister, Wife… my mommy.?

She grew up as the youngest of 5 in “poverty”. She studied at Stanford, broke many glass ceilings and traveled to incredible places around the world, including Timbuktu. She is also the main topic in my first foray into stand-up comedy.?

She was my troop leader in Girl Scouts, pushing me to stick with it from Daisies to earning my Gold Award.?

She showered me with hugs, parties, gifts, trips to exotic places and my own car when I turned 16 years old.?

She worked and traveled A LOT . . . sometimes months at a time, to allow me the opportunities to "be able to" go to preschool, a private K-8th, a prestigious private High School and university, without me having to accumulate a ton of personal debt.?

She forced me to do piano lessons, speed reading classes and speed typing drills to push me to my limits.?

She forgave me when I colored outside the lines, forgot to leave no trace when camping, stole vegetables from our garden or took keys to scratch “B***H” on her car.

She is a well-educated, award-winning woman/immigrant/engineer/human, who was lucky enough to find an equally impressive person, who is equally diligent and trusts her enough to share the short time we have on this earth for almost 50 years now. And like me, they love solving complex problems.?

My mommy taught me to. . . know my worth.

. . . fight for equality.

. . . take time to heal.

. . . be caring, courageous & creative.

I am excited to continue building upon what I’ve learned as a new mother, who chooses to work around the world earning the trust of others to build their dreams.

Being a mother has not been easy for me.

During my pregnancy…

• I had to deal with figuring out how to tell work?
• I had to deal with trying to stay healthy and rest
• I had to deal with managing multiple fast pace strategy projects with a global team,?

… while maintaining the appearance of being in control.

… while consuming dozens of baby classes and books.

… while organizing a gender reveal and 2 baby showers.

During my labor...

• I had to deal with18 hours of labor?
• I had to deal with smelling my flesh burn during my cesarean
• I had to deal chills from loss of blood during my cesarean?

… while reminding people to reference my 5 page birthing plan.

… while remembering names of the 20+ people taking care of me.

… while remaining calm as to not put additional stress on the baby.

During my initial weeks of motherhood...

• I had to deal with feeling like my insides were going to fall out?
• I had to deal with updating friends and family?
• I had to deal with going back to the ER for a week with pneumonia?

…while…I’m hoping you get my point.

Why did I have to “deal” with all that “while” doing so much??

Society??

Inequality?

Patriarchy??

I believe it’s because I am caring, courageous and creative.

My friends and family have shared a ton of things that they felt might help me on my journey as a new mother, including:

Things they recommend, which I’ve collated into a living inventory of parenting resources. Note: Please feel free to add anything you want to share by submitting a resource. ?

People they trust, like:?

• Emily Oster?
• Heidi Murkoff?
• The Doctors Bjorkman
• Where is Briggs
• Chris Ferrie
• The Space Gal
• The staff at Providence Medical

Methodologies/Processes/Frameworks that have worked, like:?

• Using Montessori Education - LoveEvery?
• Managing breast milk pumping (Elvie / Medela) and storage (Ceres Chill )
• Listening closely using Elimination Communication?
• Leveraging sleep tools (Snoo) and consultants (Taking Cara Babies)
• Using ergonomics (BabyBjorn) and design (Peter Opsvik) to accelerate poop
• Having fun while accelerating potty training

My community of fellow parents support, cheer on and listen to me when I vent with “Cyndee’s Ad Hoc Ramblings” on the communication channel that works best for me, Instagram.?

Why are my friends so awesome??

I believe it’s because they are caring, courageous and creative too.

I want my daughter to have the same strength and support.

I want my daughter to feel loved, empowered and included.

I want my daughter to trust that I will share everything that I can.

And remember to…Be Caring, Courageous and Creative.

I invite you to learn about the frameworks and tools that I regularly leverage by continuing to read “My Ever-Evolving Story: Part 3” [link coming soon]

What to learn more about what keeps me up at night? Take a fresh look at “My Ever-Evolving Story: Part 1”