This year for Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating motherhood by featuring several local moms who play important roles both in their families and the Kansas City community. These moms have encouragement for all of us as we care for ourselves, our families and our work.
Christa Dubill is an Emmy award-winning anchor with a passion for information. She anchors The Now KC at 4 p.m. and 41 Action News at 6 p.m., where she is known for her comfortable, friendly and informative delivery. Christa and her husband David have two boys, ages 6 and 11. She spends most her free time sitting on sidelines or bleachers cheering on her boys in a variety of sports. In what little free time Christa has, she enjoys trying new Pioneer Woman recipes, and crafting. Currently, she’s working on a needlepoint keychain she’s making for a friend.
2 a..m. wake-up calls, piles of laundry and occasionally opting for chicken nuggets over organic produce: these are everyday realities of motherhood that news anchor Christa Dubill understands.
You already know Christa as a popular TV personality on 41 Action News, where she delivers important news and stories to homes all across the Kansas City metro.
But off-camera, Christa can be found doing what she calls “the coolest thing on the planet,” being a mom to two boys, Andrew (11) and Ryan (6).
From the beginning of her career in journalism, Christa always knew she wanted to have children. Like many women, she built her career and family alongside each other — an experience that has required creativity, positivity and a broad philosophy of “balance.”
“What I established quickly is: I may not be able balance every single day between home and work, but I always wanted to be balanced by the end of the week. By the end of the week, I want to make sure my kids get more of me than work.”
Achieving that balance has looked different in each season of parenting. The news doesn’t sleep, so Christa has worked shifts at nearly all hours of the day and night.
“It’s all about perspective,” Christa explains about the time demands. “With my first baby, I worked nights, was home all morning with my baby, and hardly ever got to be home for bedtime. But my husband and son Andrew would hang out in the evenings, and now they have a beautiful relationship —one they might not have if I had been commandeering all of the time.”
When Christa had her second baby, Ryan, she was working mornings — so she woke up for the day at 2 a.m.!
“I know, that sounds awful – working those hours with a newborn and a preschooler! But the positive of that was that we had a beautiful moment together during the early morning feeding, and then I worked half my day while my family was sleeping!”
Christa recently moved to a day shift since her youngest started school. She now anchors the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. news so she can be home for evenings with her family.
No matter the time of day, Christa encourages all moms to be fully present with their kids and to actively create space for quality time together.
“It’s easy to say ‘yes’ to all of the work stuff, but then the home stuff sometimes doesn’t make it on the calendar. We also need to block off family time on the calendar and not feel guilty about it. I still struggle with guilt, but I’m getting better.”
Christa’s calendar contains interviews with Royals players and mayors, right next to fifth-grade field trips and surprise lunches with her kindergartener. She also believes quality time happens in the daily stuff of life, in things like sorting socks, unloading the dishes, and running errands together.
“I’ve always been the type of person that takes care of a lot myself, but doing chores together as a family is valuable time. I realize now that involving my kids in house work teaches them to be a helpful member of society and part of the family they will have someday.”
Christa may have a job that places her in the public eye, but she is refreshingly committed to keeping it real — and exposing what she calls “the hidden side of parenting.”
“We live in a world where we scroll through Facebook, and everyone is dressed cute and ready to go — but we have to remember we are seeing only the best of the 10 pictures taken before it was good enough to post. I do it, too! What I want to get in the habit of is sharing real life. My laundry sits folded on our dining room table – sometimes all week, there are sometimes crumbs on our kitchen floor and dust on shelves, and for me it’s about being OK with it when that happens. We moms are juggling so many things. We cannot do it all, nor should we expect ourselves to. We don’t have to have perfection in all parts of our lives.”
She reminds moms that we are often comparing our real life to another’s highlight reel, and that we can help each other by sharing those ordinary, honest moments we all experience as moms.
“Right now, there is a little dried soccer field mud on the hardwood floors just inside the garage door of our house. And I admit, I stepped on it in my bare feet yesterday. Looked at it, sighed, and then left it there for when the cleaning spirit moves me.”
Great Job Jenna!! We love Christa, she is honest, open, funny, & keeps it 100% real! You picked a great mom to showcase!!