Women in academia are often told it is difficult to achieve tenure because their childrearing years coincide with pre-tenure years. This chapter explores how Black motherscholars navigate the responsibilities of academic life with motherhood, focusing specifically on the experience of a Black mother who adopted a baby pre-tenure and three young children post-tenure. This chapter centers the development of my mothering, which has been influenced by a unique journey of resistance against norms embedded in the foster care system designed to destroy family bonds; resistance against the ‘ideal worker’ norm embedded in academia; and support from other Black motherscholars and Black women scholars.