The Washington, DC area is full of amazing moms: working moms, stay-at-home moms, single moms, moms of multiples, foster moms, adoptive moms, etc. We want to highlight some of those moms! Each month we will feature one special mom as the mom of the month. Know a fellow amazing local mom? Nominate them here!
Sarah K. Kim is an attorney who loves to learn and travel. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Jeffrey, and daughter, Charlotte. Sarah grew up in New Zealand where she spent most of her time playing the piano and organizing Model United Nations. She moved to New York for graduate school. Later, she moved to DC, where she became a mom to a beautiful and fun-loving daughter.
Professionally, Sarah spent almost 13 years of her career as an attorney. She started her legal career at a leading law firm in New Zealand, and worked at leading law firms in Dubai and New York before moving to the World Bank.
Sarah loves to bring people together whether that be for a school reunion or a great cause. She was the founder of several non-profit organizations in New Zealand at the regional and national level, and provided civics education outside the traditional classroom context and helped young Korean New Zealanders celebrate their cultural identity.
Outside work, she can be found at playgrounds all over the DMV area, playing tag with her daughter and learning about parenthood from her neighbors!
Here is our Q&A with Sarah:
1. What is the best and hardest part of balancing motherhood and working full-time?
We live in an environment where women are expected to work as if they do not have children and raise children as if they do not work. So, we, women, often cope by making personal sacrifices – less sleep, less personal time and not making career choices that may be risky but also rewarding. As a first-time mom, every day seems like a challenge.
However, if I had to choose one, the hardest part of balancing motherhood and working full-time has been learning to accept that it is okay not to be perfect all the time. That meant trying to put my own ambition behind and being okay with fewer career achievements. That meant trying to be okay with not sending my little one to swim classes and music classes with her friends. But, that might also the best part of balancing motherhood and working full-time. I get to hide behind my job for not being able to be the perfect mom I want to be. So, I feel less guilty when I am picking up a secondhand Halloween costume from a neighbor a day before the Halloween or when I am not fully prepared for the first snow day of the year!
2. What is one thing you want your daughter to learn from you?
There is a time in my life that I want to forget about. There are people I hurt and failures and mistakes that led me to who I am and where I am today. I want my daughter to learn that we all make mistakes and we all fail, but it is okay as long as we learn from our mistakes and failures and try to be a better and stronger person. I want her to learn that we do not need to be a perfect person, a perfect daughter, a perfect student or a perfect Christian; it is enough to be a person who is constantly striving to be better. This is based on the Christian teaching of repentance and sanctification, and I must say that this is something that I am still working on, and will have to continue to work on, for the rest of my life. But that should not stop us from walking on this journey together!
3. What practical tip would you give a fellow mom to raise children that embrace all people?
There is nothing better than being a good role model yourself. Reach out to people who are different from you, say hello to them, be kind to them and befriend them. When you are embracing all people, doing so will come naturally to your children.
Also, talk about how we may look all different, but we are the same. Teach them that being different is not wrong or something to make fun of or be embarrassed of. Not only will these lessons help you raise children that embrace all people, it will help your children be kinder to themselves too. After all, these differences that we notice are not just based on race, physical ability, mental ability or gender, but they can be based on something as simple as one’s personal preference. So nobody is immune from bullying and attacks.
Do you know an amazing mom that would be a great mom of the month?Nominate them here!
