My Hero: A Tribute to Women

A day in the life

Monday at six a.m., the alarm goes off. Run down to prepare lunchboxes for the kids and get their school clothes ready. Wake them up at a quarter to seven while preparing breakfast. Get the kids' backpacks ready and leave them by the door. Ensure that the kids eat their morning protein and calories before leaving early to avoid traffic delays before getting to school. Leave the kids and drive back home.

Plan lunch and dinner for the week, drive to the supermarket for groceries and return home by mid-morning. Coordinate or do house chores like washing dishes and clothes, changing bedsheets, and cleaning the house. Attend a Zoom call mid-morning to coordinate a big deliverable for a client. Make progress on an analysis that needs to be delivered to the client by the end of the day. Attend other meetings during the rest of the morning before lunch, which should be started before noon. Jump on another call before driving to school to pick up the kids. Park and walk uphill to the school to wait for the final bell to ring.

Get the kids and walk down to the car. Drive back home in traffic. Convince the kids to eat lunch, despite them having had their lunch snack before leaving school. Manage the kids' after-school emotions and variable energy levels.

Change the kids' clothing for their afternoon activities before getting them to do their homework. Drive them to their painting, soccer, gym, and golf lessons in the afternoon. Drive home to bathe, change, and prepare the kids for dinner. Cook dinner for the kids. Prepare the kids for sleeping, including convincing them to wash their teeth, go to the bathroom, and go to bed. Tell a good night story, pray, and give the kids hugs and kisses.

Return to the kitchen to cook dinner for the adults of the house. Have a quick but healthy dinner. Continue making progress on the deliverable that needs to be sent that same day while Netflix is playing in the background. Attend an end-of-day Zoom meeting late at night to ensure everything is ready. Finish up the final details and wrap the document up before sending it at midnight.

Budget for the month's expenses and calculate the house's cash-flow needs. Take out the kids' clothes for the next day before showering, drying her hair, and, finally… going to bed.

Modern Day Superhero

My wife is the real-life version of a superhero. In one day, she can be an executive, a psychologist, a chef, a housekeeper, a negotiator, a friend, and a spouse. She will not accept my request to take it easy, or to stop working, knowing all too well that women are at a disadvantage in the workplace. Knowing the risks she runs in her career if a recruiter sees a gap in their activities.

My wife is the brightest and more determined person I know. She graduated, with honors, one semester earlier than the rest of her class. She was admitted to the Harvard Graduate School of Education when she was only 22 years old. She can comprehensively read a book in half the time I can and bring a unique perspective to any discussion, not only one related to Education.

My wife is the most proactive person I know. She has been formally working since she was 16 years old. She is also lucky to have found her vocation early in her life and has worked for the last couple of decades in her passion: Education.

She is also humble and will not take credit for the many things she has achieved. In the past 15 years, she has been a school teacher, an education consultant for a Caribbean government, and an advisor to Mexico's Minister of Education. She has done work for international organizations such as the World Bank. She has been a part of Mexico's largest private university, Tec de Monterrey. She has been a consultant for museums, private schools, and other organizations.

She has been all these things while raising children, holding a family together, and, more recently, being pregnant for the fourth time.

Tribute

Women have it difficult in the world. They are expected to fulfill multiple roles and conform to certain societal expectations. None of us could make it without the women in our lives. Regardless of gender, it is women who were there when we took our first breath, and it will probably be women taking care of us when we take our last.

This is a tribute to all those women who fight to make room for what they rightly deserve: a shot at making an even more lasting impact in our world. It is not only our responsibility as a society to empower women, but also a wasted opportunity if we don't.

This is a tribute to all the women who make a difference and push our society forward.

This is a tribute to my hero: my wife.