---
title: "Triage, Patience, and Toddler Logic: What Motherhood Brings to the Work"
date: 2026-05-10
modified: 2026-06-27
author: "Alison Murdock"
description: "Being a mom is a lot. Doing it alongside a career you care about is a constant, sometimes beautiful, sometimes chaotic balancing act. I’m a mom at Punch. During the..."
url: https://punchteam.com/insights/blog/triage-patience-and-toddler-logic-what-motherhood-brings-to-the-work/
image: https://punchteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/What-Motherhood-Brings-to-the-Work-Featured.png
---

# Triage, Patience, and Toddler Logic: What Motherhood Brings to the Work

Being a mom is a lot. Doing it alongside a career you care about is a constant, sometimes beautiful, sometimes chaotic balancing act.

I’m a mom at Punch. During the day, I’m leading client calls, collaborating with strategy and design, keeping projects moving, and people aligned. In between all of that, I’m also managing sick days, daycare pickups, snack prep, and the particular logic of a toddler who has strong opinions about which cup is acceptable today. Some days it all fits together. Other days, it really doesn’t.

I’m still figuring it out.

But here’s what I’ve started to notice: motherhood has made me a better project manager.

### What Moms Bring to the Work

When you’re responsible for a small human, prioritization stops being a concept and becomes survival. You learn quickly what actually matters and what can wait. I carry that into every project. When scope creeps, when timelines shift, when three things need attention at once, I’ve had practice. I know how to triage.

Motherhood has also made me a better communicator. Time is limited, patience is finite, and no one has the bandwidth for ambiguity. I try to be clear, direct, and human with our clients, the same way I’ve learned to be at home. It turns out people respond well to knowing what to expect and feeling like someone is genuinely paying attention. That’s true whether you’re managing a rebrand or managing bedtime.

And then there’s patience. Not the passive kind, but the active kind. Staying steady when things don’t go as planned, keeping energy regulated when a project hits a rough patch, not panicking when a deliverable gets delayed or a direction pivots. Every parent knows: how you show up when things go sideways matters more than how you show up when they don’t.

These aren’t just parenting skills. They’re the skills that make client relationships actually work.

### What Punch Makes Space For

None of this would be sustainable without working somewhere that doesn’t make it harder than it already is. At Punch, there’s a flexibility and trust that takes real pressure off. I don’t feel like I have to hide being a parent. Kids appear on calls sometimes. People check in and ask how the kids are doing, or bombard baby photos with all the heart and heart-eye emojis in Slack. There’s a shared understanding that life doesn’t pause from 9 to 5.

That matters more than I can say. And I think it shows up in the work too. When people feel seen and supported, they show up better for the clients they serve.

### In Our Own Words

Everyone’s experience with motherhood is different, but here are a few reflections from other moms on the team:

> 
“Motherhood has really changed my stress scale. It’s helped me put the little things in perspective, focus on what actually needs my energy, and let go of the rest. Working in a creative agency already teaches you to adapt quickly, but motherhood has made me even better at prioritizing what really matters.” **Laura**

“Being a mom is hard as f*ck. Being a working mom is even harder. Being a working mom at Punch, I’m lucky to work with a group that understands family first… my chaos gremlin has joined so many calls, she’s in the transcripts. Should she be on the payroll? Yes but alas, child labor laws.” **Kira**

“Motherhood has taught me to be patient, stay open, and find meaning even in the chaos. At Punch, that same mindset shows up every day: learning as we go and relying on each other to make it work.” **Vannia**

“Motherhood rearranged everything I thought I knew about time. There’s no such thing as a slow morning anymore, but I’ve gotten better at being fully present in the minutes I do have, with my kids and at work. Punch is the kind of place where that kind of focus is recognized, not penalized.” **Carmela**

### Happy Mother’s Day

To every mom, stepmom, grandmother, aunt, mentor, and mother figure, however this looks for you, we see you. 💜