Back-to-school day means many different things to different moms. For Jena Willingham, it means finally getting a moment to herself, as much as she loves her kids.
On Monday, Willingham posted a photo to her Facebook to celebrate her children's first day of school — and we mean really celebrate.
Willingham's photo shows her on top of a float in a pool, with what looks to be a mimosa in her hand, as her three children (11-year-old Wrangler, 7-year-old Emmy, and 4-year-old Sykes) stand over her with their backpacks and lunch bags in hand.
"They have spent the entire summer arguing so I made a countdown on my phone for the first day because I told them I was going to have a pool day!" she told Refinery29.
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She also told the Ledger-Enquirer that it had been 11 years since she hasn't had a kid at home all year round, so we'd say she deserves a good pool day. However, that day still hasn't come — Willingham, who works as a mail carrier, tells Refinery29 that she ended up having to spend the first day of school babysitting for her cousin.
The end of summer may be different for working moms and stay-at-home moms, but either way, her photo seems to have resonated with plenty of people. Since she posted it just a day ago, it has received over 12,000 shares at the time of writing.
"My oldest son feels famous!" she tells Refinery29 about the viral fame.
As far as how school went?
"They had a great first day back, but my four-year-old didn't want to go back today," she said.
Fair enough. Here's hoping that Willingham gets her pool day soon.
Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.
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