Twice a month we interview moms in our “How Does She Do It?” feature. If interested in participating please reach out on Facebook or Instagram.
We are excited to introduce you to Nicole Chambers. She is the owner of Ridge Meadows Doula Services. She is raising one daughter in Maple Ridge, British Columbia with her husband.
Are you an Urban or Suburban Mama, where do you live?
I’m originally from a small town in Indiana and now live in Maple Ridge BC.
Tell us about your children?
I have a 10 year old daughter who spends most of her life upside down. She loves gymnastics, acrobatics and contortion. She was diagnosed celiac at age 4 so now our whole family is loving a gluten free lifestyle.
Tell us about your typical weekday?
We started homeschooling when Mia was in the 4th grade. A typical weekday would be a lazy start with a good breakfast (we don’t need to rush out the door so there is no point in only eating cereal!) we do some work, we ride our bikes mid-day and often will be found playing basketball in our cul-de-sac. I run a very busy successful doula business so as Mia is working I am returning emails and phone calls to clients or the doulas in my team. I attend about 4 births with Ridge Meadows Doula Services a month personally so days I am out the door at 3am and home….. well, whenever the baby is birthed. I’m so thankful for a supportive family to help support the non-traditional work hours. A few evenings a week you will find me at Maple Ridge Wellness Centre working as a counsellor working with pre/postnatal mental health, birth trauma, loss and children’s play therapy.
Do you have help?
I don’t think that I have help necessarily, I think that my husband and I have a great partnership. We navigate everything that needs to be done within her home and for a family with weekly family meetings. He’s family meetings allow us to plan birthday parties, who drive to certain sporting events, write the never ending list of house hold “to-dos” etc. We use this as an opportunity to model communication for our daughter as well as check in with everybody to see what we need to improve on for the following week.
Who cooks dinner?
The person that cooks dinner is the person that is available, if I’m home it’s me, if I’m at a birth sometimes it’s my mother in law and on the weekends it’s often my husband.
How often do you buy something just for you?
In our house we budget with an “allowance” for the extras. Each pay day we get a little money for ourselves, sometimes this is spend on coffees and lunch dates with friends (me!) and sometimes it’s saved for months to purchase an item we really wanted (my husband!)
Do you exercise regularly and if so, what and how do you fit it in?
Exercising regularly is something I’ve struggled with on and off most of my adult life. In the past I’ve done challenges with some friends, we really push each other bug each other until we all exercise for the day. Working out with online videos is the simplest because I always have 30 minutes. The motivation is something that is more challenging. We recently bought a treadmill and put it in our garage so we have another way to burn off steam. Sometimes I walk for 10 mins and other times I bust my ass and do a hard kettlebell workout.
What clothing lines or stores do you like to buy for your children?
I really like to support local agencies and businesses, and bonus if it has a great cause. The Cythera kids boutique is currently a favorite in our house. As my daughter gets older she’s certainly spending more attention on fashion. She likes Justice if the items are NOT covered in sequins, she likes urban planet and also IVIVVA. Once you put on a pair of IVIVVA shorts you just can’t put on $5 Walmart ones.
I’m totally obsessed with…
I’m totally obsessed with birth. Not only birth but educating and reminding parents that they have a lot of rights in birth. I spend a lot of time educating on what informed choices are. I don’t actually care how someone births as long as they were treated with respect and had actual informed choice conversations.
Three things in my purse right now are…
- Costco Card
- Lipsense Lipgloss
- Dolterra Cough Drops
(Besides my wallet I have very little extras now that my kid is big)
My favourite drugstore buy is…
L’orielle Volumous mascara in blackest black, Dr. Bronners Castile soap, and dry shampoo.
My guilty pleasure is…
My guilty pleasure is Greys Anatomy (I just can’t give up on this series!) with popcorn and red wine every Thursday. My other is the True Crime Podcast in the bath…. there may also be wine in there with me if I’m not on call.
Thank you to Nicole for taking time out of her day to let us know “How Does She Do It.”