For Colleen Joyce, CEO of Lawyer.com, one of the most difficult moments of balancing her career and motherhood did not happen in a boardroom. It happened in an airport.
Joyce found herself rushing through the terminal, worried about whether she would make it home in time to see her daughter before bedtime. The experience forced her to confront a familiar challenge for working parents: How do you pursue a demanding career while still being present for the moments that matter most?
That question eventually inspired “Mommy’s Love,” Joyce’s upcoming children’s book about the enduring connection between parents and their children.
The book explores the idea that love can remain strong even when work, travel and the demands of everyday life keep families apart. For Joyce, however, writing the book became more than a creative project. It unexpectedly created an opportunity for her and her daughter to connect in a new way.
As families prepare for the back-to-school season, Joyce’s experience offers a timely perspective on the pressures working parents face as schedules become increasingly packed with school activities, work responsibilities and family commitments.
The guilt many parents experience when they cannot physically be present for every milestone can be difficult to escape. But Joyce’s story challenges the idea that being a good parent means being physically present for every single moment.
Instead, she found that meaningful connection can happen in different ways.
Writing “Mommy’s Love” also gave Joyce an opportunity to reflect on the moments children are most likely to remember. While parents may focus on how much time they spend away from home, children can place greater importance on the quality of the moments they share with their parents.
For Joyce, the experience of turning a difficult moment into a book ultimately became a lesson in connection. What began with the anxiety of racing through an airport became a story about the bond between a mother and daughter — and how that bond can endure even when life gets complicated.
With “Mommy’s Love,” Joyce is offering working parents a reminder that balancing a career and family does not have to mean choosing one over the other. Sometimes, the most important thing parents can give their children is the reassurance that they are loved, even when they cannot always be there in person.