Mom Friends - Jenny

Jenny has been a NYC public school teacher for 21 years. She is the mom of two daughters, and in this mini-interview, she shares how she squeezes in “me time", how she started a grow-and-cut garden of over 100 varieties of dahlias, and the description of her mom that’s all we’d ever hope for from our own children. Enjoy meeting Jenny!

What’s your favorite family tradition? 
We do a birthday breakfast table for whoever in my house has a birthday. It was something my mom did growing up, and even though it is rarely anything fancy or exciting, it always makes someone feel special to wake up to streamers, hand-made cards, balloons and something special that they love for breakfast on their birthday. 

What are three things you always have with you?
I always have my airpods ready for podcasts or audiobooks to make my commute feel more like “me time” and not wasted time. Extra Polar Ice mint gum. And I wear my mom's chunky gold bracelet every day to bring me joy!! It was her trademark, and now it’s mine! 

Favorite recent read / watch / listen?
I recently read The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates because I was a rater on a performance-based assessment that a student at my school did based on the text, and it resulted in a really rich and thoughtful discussion. Talking about the book, even with, or maybe especially with, a 17 year old really helped me process some current events and issues I’ve been grappling with myself. On a less serious note, The Pitt has me sucked in and staying up way past my bedtime these days!

What’s your favorite way to unwind?
To unwind on a regular work day, I like to walk to a further subway stop (or 2, or 3 stops) than I need to. It gives me time and space to get some extra movement in on busy days and also just enjoy the weather, people and sights & sounds of the city and not take them for granted. 

I also love gardening, especially growing cut flowers. After my mom passed away, my dad moved to a sweet old house in Weston, CT, and my partner Noah and I did some serious gardening there during the pandemic and then consequently on weekends even once the pandemic ended. We now go out there every other weekend and grow over 100 varieties of dahlias in our backyard there alongside zinnias, cosmos, and many other varieties of flowers. Flower growing has become an incredibly therapeutic hobby and labor of love for me, as well as a way I connect with Noah on the weekends. (Reader: Jenny recently shared some dahlia tubers (how dahlias propagate) with us, and now we are each trying to grow our very own, much smaller, garden!) 

Tell us about a mother you admire.
The first motherly love I ever experienced was my own wonderful mom, Jeannie, who I lost 13 years ago to bile duct cancer. She was the most thoughtful, funny, detail-oriented and loving woman I've ever known. She loved sunshine, scrabble, gardening, cooking, laughing, dancing and sitting on her front porch with anyone and everyone who passed by our home between 5 and 6pm each night  to share a glass of Chardonnay or some Affinois with baguette. She had a grace and ease of entertaining that was unmatched and filled her with joy! I strive to be like her every day, especially for my kids who didn't get to meet her. However, I'm also so lucky that I have known so many other women who have stepped in to fill different parts of her shoes since losing her, particularly as I have had to learn how to be a mom without a mom beside me to coach and support me. Luckily my village has stepped up in so many ways, and there are too many of them to name, but I'm grateful for them all. 

Jenny’s Lewis FavoritesI am a huge fan of Lewis pouches! I love to give them as gifts to new moms, special friends, my kids’ teachers and of course every time there's a new cute pattern, I indulge myself, because, never enough!! I love that they keep things organized in a way that still makes me feel human and makes me feel happy when I reach into my bag to grab the essentials.