on motherhood: Linda Galt

Linda Galt grew up the youngest of five kids in the 1970s, when there were no seat belt laws, and her seat was the ledge behind the back seat, under the window, because sedans weren’t supposed to fit seven people. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Social Change and Development but used all that learned knowledge to open a restaurant, which she ended up running for 20 years. She waited until her late 30s to have kids because she waited for the right person to have them with. He just took a while to find her. Now her kids are nearly grown, and she and her husband run a small food manufacturing business.

Hello Mama: For readers who don’t know you, would you tell us what season of motherhood you’re in right now?

Linda Galt: I’m an older mom; I had my two girls when I was 36 and 38, and they are currently 16 and 18.

Hello Mama: At Hello Mama, we’re always talking about how motherhood is made up of seasons, how it’s really never ending but ever-changing. Does that ring true for you? Are there any seasons that hold a special place in your memory—if so, would you tell us about them?

Linda Galt: I’ve loved every stage because each stage was so different, and I got the experience the joy of watching them learn and love and discover. I choose to selfishly bring these babies into the world so I have to admit I spoiled them a bit. I showered them with kisses and stuffed animals, and filled them with good food, but I did it because it brought me joy. I love the current stage as teenagers because they are so fun to talk to. We have dinners that last for hours, go vintage shopping as a family, and they share my love of plants. However, I do miss all the snuggling during the “Functioning” stage. I carried the younger one everywhere! She was my cuddle bug and clung to me. Threw her arms around my neck and smushed her face into me. Loved that! Now she’s a little like a cat: climes in bed with me occasionally but jerks away if I touch her hair. Funny thing is that her older sibling and I laugh about how she does that. But these two are so different that the stages were experienced differently with each of them. If you’re lucky of enough to have more then one child in your life half the fun is talking about how different they are.

Hello Mama: You’ve been an entrepreneur as long as I’ve known you, and long before you had children. I’d love to hear how your professional life changed after having kids.

Linda Galt: Wow. Well, owning and managing a restaurant while raising kids was amazing. We literally almost sold the business when we discovered I was pregnant, but made the decision to stay in Green Bay near the grandparents and run the business together. It gave us the luxury of rarely needing a baby sitter and having a lot more free time then if one or both of us were working a regular job.

I’m also used to managing a lot of things at once, and they were just a couple more things for me to maneuver, including managing to carve out time for myself to enjoy them. Which I did. A lot.

Many people over the years have asked us how we did it, but I think the biggest answer here is that you just go with the flow and the kids don’t know anything else. There were many times when we had plans but I had to go to work. That sucked, but the kids learned about disappointment. On the other hand, we had way more time together as a whole family then most people and took advantage of it. My older sister told me once that you should travel while the kids are younger because once they’re teenagers they’re involved in too many things. So we did. A lot! 

Hello Mama: Is there anything that has surprised you about motherhood?

Linda Galt: How much I love my kids. You fall in love as an adult and you think, wow, I can’t believe how much I love this person, then you have kids. I honestly can’t believe how much I love them. Just knowing they’re in the house makes me happy.

Hello Mama: You have daughters; is there anything you’ve made a point to teach them or still plan to? Anything you hope for them and their futures?

Linda Galt: We’ve dragged them all over the US and Canada and even drove around a couple of third world countries eating good food, meeting people, and learning about world history they won’t learn in school. We’ve tried to teach them to be curious, but openminded, and to question authority when they should. We talk to them about politics and understanding how things effect other things, including their own actions. As I said earlier, we selfishly brought them into this world so I always felt it was our responsibility to teach them how to be happy, well rounded people. My hope is that they will find a partnership full of love like we were lucky enough to have and we get to selfishly enjoy another kid in our lives! Honestly, at this stage I can’t wait to meet who they bring home. Another person for me to spoil. 

“Do what feels natural to you and don’t read so much stuff about how to be a mom. There’s no actual right way.”

Hello Mama: Many of our readers and fellow mamas of the HM community are chasing after intention in motherhood, are dreaming bigger than what was promised by the regular social narratives. Any words of encouragement you’d like to share?

Linda Galt: Chill out. Do what feels natural to you and don’t read so much stuff about how to be a mom. There’s no actual right way. 

My teenager just walked in while I was answering this question and said this: “Just treat your kids with dignity and respect”. She means to treat them like people not objects. She says she sees a lot of her friends parents are like that. Overbearing.

Both of my teenagers have thanked me for these things: limiting time on computers, not giving them a smart phone until high school, traveling a lot as a family (it’s not always easy, but worth it and they learn 10 times more while traveling then in school), almost always having dinner together (not at the same time, and not always great food, but always sitting down together to eat at least once a day), asking questions and actually listening to the answers, letting them bring toys they probably shouldn’t have into the sand box, not caring if they ruined their cloths, letting them do grown up things even if we knew it made our lives harder (like letting them help paint the walls), having a few jobs they were expected to do, buying them new toys on trips, not creating rules that are too much (we have no curfew but instead ask them where they are going, with who, and when they’ll be back; they text us without asking).

Hello Mama: Any special traditions you’d be willing to share with us?

Linda Galt: We started ‘us-mas’ as a reason to get away for a few days between thanksgiving and Christmas without the relatives. lol. Best idea ever! Usually we just go to Door County and stay in a hotel, go for a hike, swim, and eat. We also started a tradition of going for a new years day hike after we got to experience snow on new years day in Joshua Tree National Park.

Hello Mama: So curious, any routines or rituals that you’re loving right now?

Linda Galt: Really just eating dinner together. My older one is home from college for a few weeks and it’s been so fun with all four of us again. Eating, drinking our squirt wine coolers, and talking, sometimes watching a movie or playing a game.

QUICKFIRE

Favorite drink?

Alcoholic: we freeze orange peel and cranberries with a little water in the bottom of a glass, then pour half squirt soda and half pino grigio over it. Perfect wine cooler! Literally every weekend, and the kids enjoy it too. 

Non-alcoholic: light roast coffee with a little cream. 

Reading or watching anything right now?

K-dramas. I’ve been kind of addicted to asian dramas for about 10 years now. I even subscribe to Viki. Reading seems to come and go in phases of years for me. I used to read in bed to go to sleep, but at some point about 10 years ago I stopped being able to finish a book. I’m not sure if it’s mom brain needing easy entertainment with happy endings, but the asian dramas are so relaxing.

Underrated thing?

Discovering new leaves on a plant you propagated yourself. Even better when your teenagers also find it amazing.

Favorite way to spend a morning?

Coffee in bed and silence. Everyone in the house just quietly doing their own thing for a few hours. 

My unsolicited advice raising kids: Just relax.

• Ignore them when they’re playing. This is very important. Just let them do their thing and don’t try to be part of it unless they invite you to. You’ll end up with smarter, more creative people.

• It’s hard to bring kids to a restaurant when they’re little so bring them to places with food they’ll eat and sit in a booth. Then they can stand up or crawl under the table and no one cares. Skip the iPad! Those fancy restaurants will be there win the future when they can enjoy it with you.

• Limit ipads, computers, and TV. They’ll catch up to their peers in no time. Give them toys to play pretend with instead.

• Let them decide what to wear most of the time because who the heck cares. (even as a teenager)

• Kids have sensitive pallets, so cater to it a little bit, without totally giving in, or every meal will be a fight.

• When traveling let them live on crackers, french fries, and fruit. Food travel will happen some day, but when they’re little it’s about the experience, not the food.

• Talk to them and listen to them, but don’t interfere so much. Let them solve their own issues. You can ask them if they want your help, but don’t help unless they say yes, or ask you, which they will if they need to. This will help create an environment for them to feel they can trust you (which you want when they’re teens). Sometimes you can secretly work the backdoor with another adult at school, etc. and the kiddos don’t know you’ve helped. That works too;)

• If you know they’re breaking one of your rules, but they’ve done it in a clever way that isn’t hurting anyone, let them get away with it. Don’t worry, eventually when they’re older these stories will come out and you’ll all laugh about it. (my younger one wanted to play a game past when my husband set her ipad to shut down, so she just changed the time zone).

• Be the house all the kids get together at. If not that, be the driver who brings them around or takes the group on little trips. They forget you’re there and you’ll learn so much about the friend group and if things are ok. You’ll be the fly on the wall, but also the safe place for all of them because you don’t insert yourself. They’ll want you to be part of things in the future, which is what you want when they’re teenagers.

• Honestly, enjoy your kids, talk to them, spoil them a little, force them to do things with the elderly in your family. However, let them be who they are and the grown up babies will thank you for it. 

You can find Linda and her food venture, Ubu Foods, every Saturday at the Appleton summer farm market; there frozen hummus is in the natural foods section at Woodman’s in Green Bay, Egg Harbor Market, and several other small shops around Wisco. Online you can order, their macha chili oil and freeze dried hummus at ubufoods.com  garagegrowngear.com  flipfuel.co  and on https://faire.com/direct/ubufoods and follow along with them at Ubu Foods on Facebook and @ubuhikershummus on Instagram.