first name: Cindi

age: 38

current city: Memphis, TN

living situation: I live with my husband of ten years, Mike, our five-year-old, Fifi (Sophie), and our two-year-old, Davis.

occupation: Director of the Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center at St. Mary’s School

how do you structure your time and space?  Even though I work full-time, I want my kids to know they come first. It’s important that I drive them to and from school. I’m very protective of any time outside of work, since I often have an unpredictable schedule with evening and weekend engagements. Any time off is strictly reserved for my kiddos. I’ll take a Saturday night at Chick-fil-A over a pedi or a massage.

My husband works full time as a Multi-Media Developer and web designer and plays drums in a band on the weekends. We believe that the best way to be good for our kids is to be good to each other. So, Wednesday is date night; no exceptions. We also escape for a weekend alone in New York together once a year.

I wake up at 4:20 every weekday morning to run six and a half miles before the family gets up. It’s my only self-indulgent time when no one can bother me. With Mike’s help, I get the kids fed, dressed and strapped in the car by 7:20 a.m, and rush for Fifi’s school. My son goes to Parents Day Out two days a week and stays at home three days a week with Angelica, our nanny of five years, who might as well be a grandma to him. I do my office work at the theater between 7:45 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. When my kids get out of school, they take classes at the theater (violin and ballet) until I leave work at 4:30 p.m. Then it’s family time, with all of its necessary steps: homework, dinner, household chores, laundry, dishes, trash, pet care, baths, story time, bedtime and lights out by 8 p.m. I go back to work from my home laptop until the dryer and dishwasher stop. After folding and putting away laundry, I fall into bed by 11 p.m.

On weekends, I have my stage shows, art opening, independent film series and children’s events. Inevitably, my hubbie and I have overlaps with shows on the weekends. When that happens, we have to rely on a sitter or family. When all else fails, my theater occasionally adopts some very short ushers. We operate on a chaotic schedule in the school year, but have wonderful fall, winter and spring breaks and reduced hours and vacation in the summer.

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? This is my summer. My children are in full bloom! My greatest challenge is getting caught in the rush of today and losing perspective of the big picture of my children’s sweet lives. This is probably the busiest and most fulfilling my life will ever be. I don’t want to wish it away with the hectic climate we live in. I try to freeze moments in my mind, like swinging on my mother’s porch swing with my kids and singing last night. This is the best time when they are still happy to see and be seen with me and don’t talk back. I don’t want to forget a moment of it.

-what season(s) preceded this one? Spring! It was a time of preparing for and anticipating our little family, doing everything for the first time in my career, and adjusting to life as a newlywed and a mother-to-be.

-what season(s) might your future hold? In the next twenty years, it will be my fall. A time for harvest and reaping what I sew, my children will take on lives of their own, and my role as mother will shift from a daily caregiver to adviser, comforter, financier and taxi driver. It will be a time for new growth perhaps in my career and a time of renewal for my husband and me.

favorite family activity/activities: We love singing, dancing and listening to music together (not in a creepy Von Trap sort of way). Watching the kids choreograph and belt out their interpretations of songs and turn our fireplace into a stage is high art to us. We get a kick out of showing our kids the things that we loved when we were young and sharing it all again; Electric Company, Free to Be You and Me, Michael Jackson, the Muppet Show, Bugs Bunny. We love Hide and go Seek, walking to our neighborhood park and feeding the ducks, baking together, and reading (if I try to skip out on story time at night, Fifi is quick to remind say, “But Mommy, you’re supposed to read to your child AT LEAST 20 minutes a day!”

favorite solo activity/activities: My absolute guilty pleasure is Broadway musicals. I’m a contemporary dance junky, as well. If I’m not backstage at one of my shows, chances are I’m in someone else’s audience. For stress relief, I love running and yoga.

Source(s) of inspiration: My Mom–I talk to her every day. Her advice has never been wrong, and she’s so sensitive to the needs of others. She actually cries with me when I have a bad day. My closest friend and co-worker also inspires me. She is the most focused and balanced mother I’ve ever known. She gives me the skinny on how to do it all with grace and charm. And of course, God. I have to believe He is in control of all that is beautiful, good, bad and ugly on this earth.

Best MakeShift moment:In my office, I have a drawer filled with crayons, Mardi Gras beads, play dough, matchbox cars, and most importantly, a roll of bubble wrap. Not only does it occupy and entertain my children, it helps with other kids who find their way outside my office door. There is always a toddler waiting while “Big Sis” is taking ballet class. I also keep a kiddie movie or two with me at all times to be popped into a laptop for entertainment. And nothing beats and i-phone for shopping trips, car rides and general tot occupation!