You heard about the new CEO of Yahoo, right?

Yes, Marissa Mayer is pregnant. She plans to take ” a few weeks” off and work most of the time before returning to work.

It’s her first pregnancy.

Now, in true Awesomely Awake style we won’t judge her decision. But we can empathize with how difficult it will be to juggle a high powered career with first-time motherhood.

I thought this was an interesting story to discuss while we’re talking about living out our dreams this week.

Ms. Mayer has a lot to learn about juggling careers and dreams with wiping noses and changing diapers. Not to mention the guilt she will undoubtedly feel every hour of every day. I wish her lots of luck.

Like her, I’ve aspired to reach my own dreams, just on a much more simple level. There are many mothers like me and you in the Universe today who are balancing raising children while raising dreams.

In other words, I want my cake and eat it, too. Chocolate cake without calories, to be precise.

And yet many of us are proving each day that we can be active, engaged parents who are raising smart, healthy children — while also raising a dream. But, working full-time, caring for twin girls and being an active parent all while maintaining a home, a marriage and personal sanity isn’t easy.

But it’s absolutely possible.

Some people will say that you can do it all — just not at the same time.

I disagree. You have to get creative if you want to be a Dreamer Mama. Putting dreams on hold is how motherhood used to be.

No longer.

Women are proving every day that they can mother and be entrepreneurs — and hold down big-time jobs. And, we have to keep proving this for our daughters’ sakes.

Here’s a few tricks of the trade to raise a dream and children at the same time.

1. BE ORGANIZED — I have never met a to-do list I didn’t like. But, working motherhood isn’t easy so you have to stay up later just to make sure you’re ready for the next day. Lunches packed. Backpacks ready. House picked up. No matter how tired you are at the end of your day, you have to think about tomorrow.
2. GET UP EARLY — It’s not always easy but rising early before the crowd is the most surefire way to get uninterrupted time to work on any project or job. For brand new mothers, this is that middle of the night moment when the baby is actually sleeping but you are not.
3. WORK EVERYWHERE — It’s amazing the amount of work you can do while taking a walk or driving and thinking. That’s when you can solve that plot problem or come up with a new way to earn money. It’s also hard to take notes so be careful.
4. CARRY A NOTEBOOK — I never leave home without a notebook and a gazillion pens. You just never know when an idea will hit or when you’ll have free time to work on your project. I’ve conducted interviews at the park while entertaining twin toddlers — and took notes. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible.
5. BRAINSTORM AT HOME — I have spent many hours sitting on the couch or at the dining room table with my girls working on a project with them and on mine at the same time. Assisting with homework or an art project that needs only a little adult interaction is a great time to get creative and let new ideas flow. Use the children’s arts supplies to doodle and draw your ideas into reality.
6. TAKE RISKS — With so little time and so little energy, moms with BIG dreams have to just take bigger risks to get a bigger payoff. Sure, you can sit around waiting for the stars to align but I’m not the waiting kind. Take chances. Go big. The only failure is not trying, right?
7. LIVE FULLY — There is no better way to work on a dream then to just live and do what is necessary — that’s when all the best ideas start to flow. Mark your calendar to live while you’re waiting on your dream to manifest itself.
8. DO NOTHING — Yeah, do this one often. Big. Ideas. Always. Flow. Here. Breathe.
9. GET CREATIVE — Get messy. Be inspired. Find new ways to do old things. Think outside the box. Do things differently. Be bold. Create something new. If you just sit there browsing Pinterest rather than LIVING, your dream will not get off the ground.
10. WRITE YOUR MISSION STATEMENT — I believe so strongly in writing a statement for yourself. By statement I don’t mean some boring, long-winded thing that you can’t remember by heart. I mean create a little poem that means something to yourself. A manifesto, perhaps. Something that declares what you want in your life. And then stick to it. If it’s really what you are all about you need to treat it as such.

I’m curious about you. Have you had to walk away from a career that you loved to raise your children because you thought it was the right thing to do? How do you balance your dreams right now with raising children? Can we really have both and be successful at both?

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