Meet Dee Dee Zwicky!

Q: What town/city do you live in?
A: I live in West De Pere. Being a “military brat” I’ve lived all over the world. I spent a good portion of my life in the Antigo area, but found a job in the area after attending UWGB. I love the friendliness and strong values that are evident in this part of the state!

Q: How many kids do you have?
A: I have two daughters.

Q: What are their ages?
A: One is six and one is four (but the four year old is older than the six year old…”is that possible?” you ask…well read on to find out!)

Q: Do you work outside the home? If so, where & what do you do?
A: I’m proud to be an elementary school teacher in Wrightstown. I’ve taught there for 20 years and watched that community grow, grow and grow! I also co-own Fraluz Frozen Treats with my friend, Lynn Miszewski. We’ve been on a roller coaster ride with our store and love everything from tasting new creations to chatting up customers…we both think of Fraluz as the “Cheers” of ice cream shops, kind of a “where everyone knows your name” place. I may not be so good with names, but I hear a lot of stories (and share some of my own)!

Q: What is your favorite at-home activity to do with your kids?
A: We love to do science experiments! I’ll give my girls bottles/tubs of various liquids and solids and let them have at it! I’m very much a “guided discovery” teacher and mom. I can’t wait until we start taking trips around the country and world to see “what’s out there.”

Q: Where is your favorite place around Green Bay to take your kids?
A: This is so very hard to narrow down. I’m very thankful for let’s go mommy for keeping up on the various activities that are going on. If we had to decide on somewhere to go around here we would probably pick Green Bay Botanical Garden. Every time we go it looks new and fresh. We watch the birds, the insects, and of course smell the flowers. Then I get to sit and watch while the girls have fun in the children’s area.

Q: What has been your biggest challenge in parenting thus far?
A: Being a single parent is hard for two reasons: 1) I don’t have a partner to bounce ideas off of on how to handle parenting situations and 2) I have no time to myself. I’m an introvert who gains strength from my alone time and there is rarely a time when I’m alone. Neither of these really matter though, because I wouldn’t have it any other way. I desperately wanted kids, and I know that when they are teenagers, I’ll miss their constant presence.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do for yourself when you have time?
A: I love to read…alas that has taken a back seat until summer! During the school year I’ll read short articles on various teaching themes, child rearing or National Geographic Traveler. I have the 10 minutes before everyone wakes and the 10 minutes before I fall asleep…not too easy to keep track of plot twists and character analysis of a novel with disjointed time like that.

Q: Are you a night owl or an early bird (despite what you have to be as a mom)?
A: I love the night when all is quiet. My mind races with all the possibilities in life during this time. Unfortunately, I don’t get to stay up late because I have a daughter who is up early EVERY day and wakes everyone else up. That is my summer job–to work on her sleeping later or teaching her how to entertain herself!

Q: What is something not many people know about you?
A: Actually, my friends all know this, so now I’m telling the world: I had infertility problems! It is amazing how many people have infertility problems. The reason I’m shouting this out is because maybe it can help someone. I love kids, yet I got to the magic age of 35 without a prince charming in the picture. So I turned to science. Our bodies are fickle things, though. I spent many years, and many many thousands of dollars fighting for my girls. Here’s what I learned:

• Trust people…all the doctors who tried to help…that moment I found an organization online that helped me organize my trip–were they scamming me?…when the giant Czech anesthesiologist said “You go sleep now” it was, wow, I’m trusting him to bring me out of this alive! Months in a foreign country with few English speakers…the donors for being healthy and drug free…the whole process was and continues to be a leap of faith that people are decent.
• Be persistent. You have a dream? You only live once–go after it. Don’t stop until you’re ready and can live with the results. My goal in life is to have no regrets.
• Be resilient. Things don’t go your way? Fix it or accept it, but don’t let it get you down.
• Be adventurous. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Every corner you come to is going to be full of adventure.

So back to the beginning–yes, my 4 year old is actually older than my 6 year old. That’s a great story I’ll be sharing with her in the future.

If you know someone struggling with infertility, please feel free to share my story with them. Or if you want to know more details about where I went, the cost or the adventure, you can contact Lindy at let’s go mommy and she can pass on my email to you. There is no shame in infertility, just bad luck.

Thanks for sharing with us, Dee Dee. Check back next week to meet another area mom!

(P.S. Let’s go mommy is still in need of more submissions from moms or dads, so please contact me if you are interested and willing to be featured: lindy@letsgomommy.com!!)