Sorry! Proud Mom Moment.

So. I’ve never been the mom who had umpteen photos of her kids in her wallet.   I withstood the withering glances of women who asked to see pictures of my kids as I said, “I don’t have any.” Somewhere there is small print that I didn’t read in the mommy contract: Have current photos of your awesome kids at all times.

Okay. I sucked as a bonafide, photo-carrying, mom. It had nothing, NOTHING, to do with my love for my kids, and everything to do with my quiet way of living. I’m a private kind of woman, and my children’s accomplishments come out in a trickle at best.

Last week, as I sat in a dental seminar—don’t ask—I received a text from my 31-year old daughter. She had just received Pella Window’s innovator of the year award. She was on a team that made major technological advances in the trending smart home arena. I—almost—cried on the spot.

Not because my daughter is an incredibly smart woman. Not because she put in the hard work that brought the award to fruition. I was deeply touched because of this– she set a goal on the day she walked into Pella Window’s corporate headquarters as a college student. She noticed that they had an award for innovator of the year and quietly, in-her-head, said, “I will win that.” See the connection? We are quiet people.

When she won the award I silently screamed. I jumped up and down…in my mind. I wiped my dry eyes that were weeping with joy because she had realized a dream. My womb felt joy that my baby, my 31-year old daughter, has succeeded in an area that is still mainly populated by men. Engineering.

Glass ceilings? They sadly still exist. But on this day she didn’t crack the glass, she shattered it. My daughter’s award? The best part of my day.