Please help me celebrate our February Mom of the Month, Tracey! ✨
Consistency, kindness, and courage to show up—Tracey embodies it all. From trying different classes to cheering on other moms, she’s such a light in our community. We’re so proud to celebrate her as our Mom of the Month.
Tell us about your family!
It’s just the three of us: my husband, Ben, and our 10 year old Graham. We moved to Oak Park from the city one week before Graham started kindergarten and he’s currently in 4th grade.
Current/previous career?
I’m a university faculty administrator teaching all of our university teaching assistants and running programs for multilingual students who need additional English language support.
What does motherhood mean to you?
This feels like the hardest question to actually answer. I always joke that the Peace Corps slogan is “The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love,” and that’s only because they haven’t been parents yet. It’s so all-consuming to be a parent and yet also so joy-filled as well. I had an absolutely amazing mom, but she died at 50 years old and Ben’s mom died even younger. So it often feels like building the plane while I’m flying it, without a manual, and yet somehow making it all work. What else in life is like that and yet we wouldn’t change anything? (Well mostly lol.)
How did you find Fit4Mom?
Melissa and I worked at the same university for many years without actually knowing one another. One day she posted something about Boost,
which frankly sounded not fun at all :), but I was intrigued by F4M and signed up for an Ignite class that same week. I think that was almost three years ago.
What's the best part of Fit4Mom?
Well, first the forced exercise because my job is incredibly stressful, especially now, but once I commit I stick to it, so it gets me moving at least once a week. Then there’s the huge bonus of chatting with other local moms and getting to know people who live in the area. It’s so nice now to feel like I know more than just names and faces. I also really enjoy our Book Club. I’ve been going for a year and have read books I wouldn’t have ever discovered otherwise and also got to have great conversations about them, too.
Favorite class/exercise?
Ignite is my favorite class because I love strength training and how important it is at this phase of life, but I’ve come to love Barre and Strides as well. Other than walking by myself, I don’t get much cardio so I like that those classes force me to work in more cardio.
Proudest moment?
I turned 50 last year and to celebrate I went to Italy with some of my oldest and dearest friends. Given that my mom died at 50, I feel proud of how well I’m keeping things in perspective and focusing on my health but also not obsessing about the future.
What is something that would surprise us?
My husband and I were both in the Peace Corps at the same time in very different countries. Niger in West Africa for me and Nicaragua for him. (One of us had a much harder experience, ahem.) We met in Chicago nine years later and bonded over our love of travel.
FIT4MOM Oak Park River Forest offers fitness classes for women in all stages of motherhood, including prenatal, stroller & moms only classes. Your first class is free! Click here to try a class.
