Our goal is to provide information, ideas and support for working women who are also full-time mothers.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Why I work

The question of why I work has many answers. To be honest, I always expected to be a working mom. It wasn't until my first daughter was born, and I was faced with the prospect of going back to work after my maternity leave, that I realized I would love to be a stay-at-home mom. Unfortunately, it's just not practical. Could we survive without my income? Probably. Although I do think we'd have to sell our modest 2-bedroom house and live in an apartment, sell one of our cars, etc. There are people out there who think less of me for not being willing to make those sacrifices. To me it is not worth it. I hate the misconception that all working moms work for extravagances. We do not live extravagantly. We don't have cable or satellite TV, our house is small, we buy our cars used (one is a 1995), we have one cell phone with the cheapest package possible which we use for emergencies, etc. We worry about bills and money. But we are able to provide our girls with little things we wouldn't be able to do without my income such as a zoo membership, camping trips, outings to a drive-in movie, etc. Oh yeah, and of course our house and yard, which is important to me.

What I did do when I went back to work was go down to "part-time" (30 hours a week). I was extremely lucky to work for a company that was willing to accommodate me rather than lose me. I still have to be there 5 days a week, but it's only 6 hours a day. My oldest daughter loves her daycare and her friends there. We are home on maternity leave now and she misses it. We use a small in-home daycare with only 4 kids besides mine. She's basically there for two meals, nap time and a play session with her friends. I can't feel guilty about that. I do not feel like anyone else is "raising" her, she has never forgotten who I am, etc. (These were the things I was worried about when I first left her there.) She just has more people that love her.

And I can't lie, I do like getting out of the house, having adult interaction, contributing to our income, etc. While I dream at being a stay-at-home mom sometimes, I have no regrets. We don't have a lot of money, but I think my kids have a good life and I'm setting a good example for my girls.

Whatever you do, don't assume I'm not a "full-time mom" because I work outside the home. When that phrase is used to describe moms who are able to stay home with their kids, I feel a tightening in my gut. I do not hang up my mom hat when I walk into my office building. I am always a mom, first and foremost. It's the best job I could have ever asked for.

AD

1 Comments:

  • At 3:48 PM, Blogger Goodies for Mom said…

    AD,
    It really is true. I don't think any of us lives extravigantly. We want to be comfortable and help provide for our family.

     

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