Time Management and the Chef’s Wife

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Being married to a chef, (and being a stay at home mom), most of the work to be done at home falls on my shoulders.  My husband works 70-80 hours a week, so the free time he does have, he uses to sleep and spend with us.  I don’t want to have a huge list of things I need him to do around the house during the few hours he’s off.  This seems to work well for us.

There’s only one problem.

I tend to get overwhelmed easily.

Combine that with the amount of work it takes to care for a family, a home and a small business and that can be a problem!!

I’m a list maker.  OneNote is full of lists of things to do today and in the future.  I have shopping lists for different stores I need to go to.  I have a list of weekly chores for myself and the kids.  Some days I think I’m really organized and can stay on top of things.  Other days, I just look at what needs to be done and sit there overwhelmed. (more…)

Infertility – A Chef, A Wife and a Child

While my chef/husband and I have struggled with miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, we have never dealt with infertility.  Knowing how much I struggle with loneliness because of the hours my chef/husband works, I can’t even begin to imagine how hard this must be for many chefs and their wives.  I often wonder if I’m hurting someone when I write posts about my children and the struggles of raising children with a chef.  I know that my struggles could be someone else’s dream.
I could write a post on a subject I really know nothing about, or I could ask someone for help . . . someone who has lived it.  I’ve asked my sweet cousin Leanne if she would let me ask her a few questions about her and her husband’s struggle with infertility.  While her husband is not a chef, she knows me well enough and has been to enough family functions over the years that my husband has missed because of work, that she has a pretty good idea of what our lives are like as chef wives.  I am so grateful for her willingness to share with us today!

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Miscarriage and Ectopic Pregnancy – A Chef, A Wife and a Child

A chef a wife and a child - miscarriage and ectopic pregnancyHave you ever noticed that many people have gone through the same struggles as you have, but you never knew it until you started to talk about it?  This happens to me all the time.

I had no idea how many women had miscarriages until I had one.

After the initial excitement of finding out that my chef/husband and I were going to have our first child, my thoughts and fears headed straight toward miscarriage.

I know now that many women have miscarriages, but my Mom had 14.  Yes you read that right. 14.  I am an only child and she was on bed rest the majority of her pregnancy with me.  I am like my Mom in many ways, but would this be one way I was like her as well?  I of course had no way of knowing.  So as we started to pray for our unborn child, we prayed that if it was God’s will, I would carry him/her full term. (more…)

Help I’m Pregnant and Married to a Chef – A Chef, a Wife and a Child

pregnant and married to a chefI’m excited to start a new series here on Emulsified Family called A Chef, A Wife and a Child.  During the series I’ll be sharing about our life with children, but have asked other chefs’ wives to share their stories as well.

I’ll be posting in this series every Tuesday evening through September.  If you haven’t already signed up to receive my posts via email, you can do so here and then come back and read the rest of the post.  I can wait.  🙂  Other blog posts on different topics will pop up here and there as well.

We all have different stories and different experiences about having a child with a chef.  If you have children, or are thinking about it in the future, I hope you will be able to relate to one or more of us as we share our lives with you.  I’ll also be talking a bit about miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and infertility as so many of us struggle with those issues as well.

To those chef families who do not have children yet, having a child is often an overwhelming thought because of the long and crazy hours a chef works.  And for those of us living it every day, there are ups and downs as we try and figure out how to combine restaurant and family life.  Then there are those with grown children who have lived to tell about it.  (Feel free to leave your advice in the comments!!)

So to start off the series, I thought we should start at the beginning. . . .

Help!  I’m pregnant and married to a chef! (more…)

The Death of a Parent and the Chef’s Wife

Today would have been my Mom’s 66th birthday.  We lost her to cancer 12 years ago.

You would think after 12 birthdays, 12 of my parent’s wedding anniversaries, 12 Mother’s Days, etc., it would get a lot easier, but it really hasn’t.

There are so many things that come flooding into my mind on these types of days:  memories of being told she had cancer, seeing her suffer, seeing the helplessness in my Dad’s eyes, pleading with God to heal her or take her home to be with Him so she would no longer be suffering, feeling so alone and sad while home alone at night after she died, etc.

There are of course happy memories as well:  family vacations, playing the piano and singing together, doing puzzles, playing with play-dough in the kitchen while she cooked dinner, etc.

death of a parent (more…)