12:21am Trying to Sleep: Take 4

Each night when I go to sleep there are questions reeling in my head that every mom asks: “Did I give them enough attention today?”, “Was I short with them and should not have been?”,

“Did I turn towards him when he spoke to me when I was washing the dishes?”

Was I enough?

When I was the President of the Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association, I had one young child at home and was pregnant with my son. And people would ask…” Is it hard to leave your child when you have these meetings?” and “How can you stand to be away from your child?”

There was one day when my daughter Carter, who was 2 years old then, asked if I was going to a “dental hygienist meeting” and I told her I was. She asked me what exactly I did at those meetings (in her confident and bossy 2-year- old voice). I told her that I had to help people who could not afford to go to the dentist and help protect them from getting sick.

She darted to her room, slung her purse over her shoulder, walked toward the door and said “I’m going with you!”

And in that moment, on that day, I knew I was raising a strong woman.

For today, I was enough.

And today, you were enough.

Always fall forward
-Jigger Tanner (Dad)

With a full and grateful heart,

Kelly

About the Author:

Kelly Tanner Williams, RDH, PhD(c)

Kelly is an imperfect mother of three children ages 6, 10 and 12. Her children and family have provided encouragement while she worked in academia, own and operate a business, travels and works in corporate with Philips Oral Healthcare as the Manager of Professional Education in the South East . She has brought her children to meetings while President of the Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association, and has continued to love and nurture her children while holding past positions as ADHA Council for Public Relations. Many tireless nights of rocking babies, answering 4-year- old questions, and working on policy, research, and serving her Association lead to her recognition of the ADHA and Johnson & Johnson Award for Excellence. While still making God and her family first, she is fully supported by her three children who cheer her on while she works towards her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University. Contact Kelly: HERE.