I am so sick and tired of hearing people say "oh it must be so hard" when they hear about me going back to work. Yes, I love my child. Yes, I do struggle with leaving him in the care of someone else and yes, I wish I was there to see all his big firsts. However, I LOVE my job. I LOVE working and I honestly don't picture myself as a stay at home mom right now. I might be one day, but right now, I love working. But I feel like it's become this "thing" where stay at hom moms are seen as the best moms, the hardest working moms, the moms who truly love their kids and would do anything to be with them every day. Don't get me wrong, I respect moms who do choose to stay at home and I think thats great for them. But it's not for me and I'm not going to feel guilty because I enjoy working. I have a fantastic dayhome, I know my son is safe and happy there. I know she loves him and gives him constant affirmation and affection. He loves going there and loves it when I pick him up. I also hate hearing about how I must look forward to me being able to stay home, going on the assumption that the only reason I'm working is because I have to. Well I don't. Yes, financially it does make better sense for me to be working right now but technically, I think if I really wanted to, we could make it work. Or I could only work part-time or something. I am working because I want to. I am working because I enjoy my job. It's not easy. It is a lot of work to make sure I get enough time with my child and have a life and right now, I do sacifice a bit of my social life because if I'm away from Z all day, I don't really want to get a babysitter and lose more time with him. But thats okay. For me, this is the life I currently want. I don't believe that won't change. I'm sure that I might choose to stay home with my children one day. Maybe. But maybe I will keep working and I'm okay with that too. It's my choice and I absolutely love having that freedom.
But I'm happy and please stop assuming that I'm not.
I hear ya, sister! I worked after my daughter was born, and it was fabulous. After the twins came, it just wasn't worth the cost of daycare for me to go back to work, but I miss it. For some women, having a job and a life outside of the home makes them a better mommy. I envy working moms, and I get tired of people automatically assuming things based on their perceptions of your family. "I'm so sorry you have to work" ranks right up there with "Oh, you have four kids? You're done, then, right?" ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat is right for one family isn't necessarily right for another. Why can't people realize that?