Friday, June 26, 2009

Working Mom

I am a working mom. I have a full time job and a 10 month old daughter.

My work weeks consist of 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week only to come home to see my daughter for about 1.5 hours before she slips away in a peaceful slumber.

Some may criticize the working mom. Thinking we choose career over motherhood. These people have no idea what they are talking about.

I have had some people comment on how well my daughter "knows" me considering I am away 40 hours of week and cared for by others. For someone to actually think she would view me as just another random person floating in and out of her life obviously has never been a working mom. Working would not cause this type of behavior. She knows exactly who I am and actually prefers me over her caregivers (who happen to be family). I am not just another person to her.

She cries when I leave the room and whines for me to hold her once I walk in the room. Even the family that cares for her while I am at work have stated that she clearly knows who her parents are and acts different when we walk in the room versus anyone else she knows well.

Being a working mom is tough. It's not easy on the days that I work only seeing her in the morning or at night. My days off with her are amazing and make me want to quit my job so I don't have to go back.

In this day and age, especially in this economy, it is very hard to rely off of one income. I work because we need to in order to financially survive. Does this mean we should not have children? Absolutely not! My daughter has an amazing set of parents (if I do say so myself) and loving supportive family. My daughter has the privilege but being surrounded by her family and reaps the benefits of being cared for by them. Even if she was in a public day care, she would still thrive just as much as any other child.

I do not regret being a working mom. As much as I'd rather be a stay at home mom, I am happy with the care my daughter is receiving and am happy she is going to be close with several of her family members in addition to her parents!

1 comment:

makescents2save said...

Yes it is hard :( Week 1 down and we have to work 50 hours now instead of 45...