It’s been a rough year for parents. We’ve done the research, and we’ve seen the data. The pandemic has taken more of a toll on parents than those without kids.

Mother’s Day is Sunday, and I’m heading south to shower my mom with love. (That’s her and my dad in 1966, before I was even a glimmer in ANYbody’s eye.)

I’m also full of love and appreciation for the mothers on our team. I always knew moms are the ones who Get Stuff Done, but these ladies have taken that to the next level.

Quiana Cooper-Jarrett, who’s figured out childcare so her four-month-old daughter can be cared for exclusively by family — even while Q and her husband both work demanding full-time jobs. She says the pandemic “gave me the opportunity to unplug, reflect and quite frankly just gaze at my beautiful daughter for hours on end. I learned that it’s okay to not keep up with everything that’s going on in the world, that it’s actually better for my mental health to detach from a lot of it.”

Raeka DeLong, who has two daughters in NYC public schools. She’s shepherded them through the ups and downs and openings and closings and straight up craziness of the last year while still juggling multiple qual and quant projects. THIS is who you want managing your research project. Rae says, “I learned from the pandemic how much I rely on all the people who help keep my family (and my sanity) together.”

Kathy Florin, our Operations Manager, who taught her 16-year-old daughter to drive (!) during the pandemic and is essentially my “work mom.” She keeps everything organized, remembers things that I forget, and takes care of a ton of the mental and emotional labor that keeps Southpaw moving forward. For Kathy, the pandemic drove home the need for “real, intimate connection with people. We need each other, and allowing others to see our ‘humanness’ can create a sense of belonging and closeness.”

Words of wisdom, moms. We love you, and couldn’t do it without you.