Do Working Moms Have It All?
I have a confession. I had a few jealous moments last week. I keep in touch with a lot of my old Army buddies through Facebook and found myself looking through a few of their photo albums. Some are assigned to sweet overseas positions in Italy and Germany, while others are teaching as Westpoint or ROTC instructors. I find it humorous now, not at the moment, that right after spending a day consumed with “What if I’d stayed in?” or “Wouldn’t it be great to travel Europe?”, my entire family was hit with the worst stomach flu in our history. From Wednesday night to Saturday morning starting with poor Zeke, we took our turns… well, I’m not going to get into the details of it. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.
It was about the time that Bubba and I were sprawled out on my bed too weak to watch movies or even sleep that a little perspective SMACKED me in the forehead. Thank goodness I’m at home! I couldn’t imagine working and being stuck with that nasty bug. Not only would I be worried about our health, but I’d have daycare to shuffle, work requirements to get around, and everything else that gets backlogged when you’re sick. I think the Hollywood “working mom” image, where some fabulously coordinated woman easily juggles wife, mom, work, daycare, groceries, laundry, dishes, is a load of crap!
Thank goodness, Hubby and I are in a position where I can stay home taking care of our boys. I know a lot of single moms in the Army and dual military couples that have it tough. They drop their kids off at daycare at 5:30am so they can make it to morning physical fitness and then don’t see them again until 5:30pm. During that 12 hours apart mom and dad are working their tails off, often times bringing work home with them, and then, in those precious few hours before bedtime, they cram quality time, chores, dinner, etc. I have immense gratitude for these brave men and women. They have limited choices and do the best they can for their families.
My current phase is staying home with my kiddos. I don’t know how long this phase will last, but I am so thankful for every minute of it. I looked at those pictures and lost that thankfulness when I started to think I would never be able to do things like that. Popular culture tells me as a stay-at-home-mom I will never fulfill my true potential or accomplish my dreams. Today I stopped believing that. I may not get to travel as much as I want to now, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll never get to travel. I would love to be a high school teacher or college professor someday. Staying home with my boys isn’t keeping me from that. I’m just postponing it for a bit. My boys are worth it.
I hate to say thank goodness for that awful stomach flu, but it was perfectly timed. Nothing like being literally knocked to your knees to understand that there is a purpose in what you are doing each day. I believe in what I’m doing and know too much about being a working mom to think that I’m missing out.
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This brought tears to my eyes, thanks for sharing. I need the reminder alot these days as my kids are very constant and challenging. My 2 days a week at work sometimes are so much of a “break” for me that I often think that it would be easier for me to just go to work full time, but am often reminded of this exactly. I would never be able to handle the demands of working full time AND being a mom! There is a season, and my kids are soo worth it right now for me to be home, and I would be missing out on sooo much of their precious lives right now. I am so blessed!
Thanks, Crystal. It’s hard when we don’t get the world’s backing on such an important job. What a blessing you are to your children. I’m sure we’ll both look back and wish this season was longer. Keep up the great work!