Working Mom

Let me preface this by saying I hate the term, "working mom." All moms are working moms, no?

I was home with my kids until they started school. Then I went to work outside the home full time. Mainly out of necessity. If you think babies are expensive, you have no idea what is to come. Babies are cheap! If you have school aged children, you understand what I mean. School supplies, pictures, field trips, activities...it all adds up. Plus feeding 4 children is expensive. Off to work I went.

You know those working moms who are well dressed with perfectly coifed hair and lovely organized homes? Yeah, I am not one of those moms. I am a crappy working mom. My home went into chaos almost immediately. I gained 30lbs and did not take care of myself because really, I had no time to do anything for myself. It took everything I had not to punch people when they told me I was so lucky to have sick days because all the poor stay at home moms are full time moms, no sick days for them. Guess what? My sick days were only used when my kids were sick, certainly not for me. And how hurtful to imply that I am only a "part time mom." I still had all the same responsibilities as I did when I was at home; Cooking, cleaning, laundry, conferences, volunteering in my children's classroom...plus my 40 hour a week job. It sucked. A lot. I can only speak about my own experience but for me, working outside the home was a millions times harder than being a stay at home mom. Again this was my experience. I just really sucked at it. Ugh.

When I found out I was pregnant with baby #5 panic set in. We desperately needed my income. I would have to keep working. That was a really hard pill for me to swallow. But you do what you have to for your family. For me, that meant putting my 8 week old in daycare. I worked until the day I gave birth.

Fast forward-I went back to work when my sweet baby was 8 weeks old. Due to a variety of reasons I ended up resigning after only 3 weeks. It was a scary but necessary decision. It is this terrible catch 22. We need my income but we cannot afford for me to work. Secondly, I was working a job, not a career. I worked so hard for the college degree but I was working as an administrative assistant with no hope for promotion and little hope for a raise.

So here I am, once again a stay at home mom. Well mostly, I did find a part time weekend job. But I am basically a stay at home mom. I feel so at peace with this decision. But at the same time I am really worried about how this will work. We can pay all our important bills but I worry about extras. I know extras are not necessary. Name brand clothes are not necessary. Tide are K-cups are not necessary. But I want the kids to have some extras and fluff. I am not sure how this all work. My ultimate goal is find a balance. A well paying job that I like or some way to continue to be home with the kids.

I want to have faith that it will all work out.

11 Myths About Working Moms