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Loida Casares Ruiz

Wife, Mother, Writer, Advertising Manager

Loida Casares Ruiz grew up in Northeast Houston. She graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Minor in English. She received a Master of Arts in Communication in 2001. She works in advertising by day and is a mother, wife, and writer by night. She has al...

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Alpha Mom

Loida Casares Ruiz

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I must have been living under a rock or something. I had never heard the name “Alpha Mom” before.  Yet, this term was coined in 2004 by the branding artist and DesignerConstance Van Flandern.  I asked myself if I too was an Alpha Mom, but before answering that question I set out to research the term. After reading these two articles I decided I’m not.  Article 1 and Article 2.

First of all, I don’t think I’m a Type A personality, as described in this article. I am probably a little of an AB mix.

I always remember that right after I had my first child I was chatting with my co-worker about having a second child three years later.  I told her that I would try getting pregnant when my daughter was two so they could be exactly three years apart. 

I remember her asking me why I didn’t just have her whenever and me answering, “Because I want to have my two children exactly three years apart.”

I was serious. I tried getting pregnant a couple of months before my daughter’s second birthday in March of 2003. By July I still wasn’t pregnant and I was getting impatient. I told my husband that if I didn’t get pregnant in the next month I was putting it off for another year. I told him I refused to be pregnant during the summer. My plan was to get pregnant that summer, so the baby would be born in the Spring.

I got pregnant in that time frame and my son was born on April 30. I remember feeling relieved that I had met my deadline. Type A? I’m not so sure, but pretty close.

However, I know that I like to plan. I make lists for everything. I know that during the school year I follow an exact schedule and we do homework religiously every night. I make sure that my daughter has exactly two after school activities, Outdoor Sports and usually Dance.

I plan for her to have one summer dance class or dance camp. I take them to the library every 2 weeks, so she can complete her summer reading.  Other than that I don’t have a ton of activities. I want to enroll her in piano lessons, but I haven’t yet. I want to teach them to swim, but I haven’t yet.

I don’t believe in over burdening the kids with activities. I believe that kids should have time to be kids and they should only have 1 or 2 extracurricular activities.

I’m trying to prepare my son for the Vanguard test next Spring, but I’ve gotten lazy. I figure he’ll get a good base of the basics in the Fall when he starts Pre-K.  I know I still have to do my part though and it stresses me out. I’ve even put it in my Blackberry schedule.  Tuesday and Wednesday, reading time for daughter and drills with son.

So when I read these articles, I thought, “no, I’m definitely not a an alpha mom, but am I a part-time alpha mom?” I’m not so sure yet. The jury’s still out.