As moms, the days between Halloween and Christmas are a whirlwind. Most of us desperately want this season to be special for our families so we zoom around attempting to create some kind of holiday magic for our kids. Between work, holiday shopping, hosting, and visiting, it's a lot, and it goes by so fast. We never really know if we're making the impact we hope to. Well, unless you're a world-famous Radio City Rockette.
Although the Rockettes all look impossibly glamorous and seem to simply radiate the holiday spirit we're all trying to manufacture, quite a few of them are actually moms just like us, doing their best to make it to the new year. The thing is, these women aren't just responsible for making memories for their families but for ours too. CafeMom had the chance to chat up two veteran Rockettes — each in their 16th season with the show — to find out how they manage mom life and the demands of their "legendary" job.
Whether you're an experienced mom or a first-time mom, the holidays are a lot to manage.
Nicole Baker is a mom of four between the ages of 4 and 12, and fellow Rockette Katie Hamrah is a first-time mom to a 17-month old boy. Both have been Rockettes for nearly two decades, which means they have super-intense schedules for the length of their contracts — three months out of every year.
For the most part, that means they have to rely on their support systems to keep up with everything.
"It's a challenge, for sure," Nicole tells CafeMom. "I have a lot of support at home, which is extremely helpful," she says, noting that now that her kids are older, it's easier in some ways and harder in others. "I come home, and opposed to having like, a newborn, who needs me to feed them and just go right to bed, they need me. They need me for homework, to sign their papers, they want more food."
But her mom recently gave her advice that has stuck with her. "She was like, 'You've been gone all day. They just want a part of you,' and I was like, 'OK,' so my new thing is I just come home, I take a deep breath and just know that I might not do one thing for myself until 10 p.m." That said, she also relies on her husband to take the reins when she's busy being a Rockette.
"I'm so thankful for my family and my husband's family," Katie says. "Shoutout to my mom. She's the glue that's holding it together at the moment."
The time away is worth it, though.
Nicole and Katie both like the change of pace that comes with being a working mom. Work is a break from the demands of home and home is a respite from their intense days as a Rockette. Although juggling the physical work of their jobs as dancers — as well as their off-season gigs as instructors — with the mentally challenging work of motherhood that we all experience, is undoubtedly exhausting, the joy they bring to others helps put it all into perspective.
"Honestly, it makes me tear up every time," Nicole tells us. "I just have to take a deep breath and I get to bring this magic to 6,000 people. I get butterflies and excited each time."
"This job is just legendary," Katie gushes. "It’s so special. It is so magical. Whether you’re young or 80 years old. Just being a part of that is just so cool.”
How do they get it all done?
We totally know that some moms are not into lists and schedules, so we're not saying you have to do create them, but if you're going to give it a try, the holiday season is the time to do it.
Like so many of us, Nicole and Katie are all about planning ahead — at least this time of year. Katie says she tries to be flexible with life and motherhood as much as possible, but when things get hectic, it's a different story.
"I guess I'm gonna like go back on my word now," she says. "But like, trying to just plan ahead. One of my fellow Rockettes is also a mom that I sit next to in the dressing room, and she's already like on the Christmas shopping, so I'm like, 'I gotta get a move on it.' So in the same breath as 'being where your feet are' trying to plan a little bit ahead for all of that craziness."
Being a veteran mom and Rockette at this point — she actually danced pregnant with each of her children — Nicole, on the other hand, is all about phone reminders, Post-it notes, and to-do lists. "I feel like lists help me so much just to remember the day-to-day activities," she says.
The best part about being a Rockette, however, may surprise you.
It's the other women! Both Katie and Nicole to described to us what it's like to spend a very concentrated few months working side-by-side more than 30 other women with a goal of being perfectly in sync at all times. It creates a bond that is second to none. The Rockettes are the definition of what it means to be a group of women lifting up other women.
"Our motto is, together we're better," Nicole tells us. "You can feel the energy, you can feel us coming together. Friendship are truly incredible," she says, explaining that as a mom, it's her fellow Rockettes she's turned to at 2 in the morning when her babies were keeping her up.
They support each other all year, not just during their three-month contracts, and form friendships that transcend busy schedules and hectic home lives. It's beautiful and inspiring, and we love knowing that we too can genuinely be inspired by the women who bring so much joy to our families.
