It's Official: SAHMs Have it Better

http://www.momlogic.com/2008/12/its_official_stay-at-home-moms.php


Momlogic's Jenny: It's official. If you're a stay-at-home mom right now, then you're lucky. You're one of the few in this country that can afford to survive on one income, when most families can barely stay afloat with two. Stop complaining about how tired YOU are, because on many levels, your "job" is a cakewalk compared to ours. I know first hand...

When I was at home for the first 12 months of my son's life, I complained that I had it rough. That running after a baby (that really isn't even mobile yet) is the hardest, most unappreciated job there is. Blah blah blah... I often thought about my working mommy friends and felt pity for them. Unlike me, they were not getting to spend every terribly exhausting second bonding with their child ... contemplating the nuances of babyhood ... Which sippy cup is the best? Which park has the most shade, the most ducks, the cleanest sand box? What vegetable should I roast, puree, and serve to my royal highness -- The Baby? Over playdates, lunch-dates and mommy & me classes where we would discuss nap times, bath times and poop times ad nauseam, my other lucky-enough-to-stay-at-home-mommies and I would say that we (college educated, kick-ass career women) now had NO desire to re-enter the work force -- that being with our babies is more important than any promotion or title in the world.

And it was true ... until now. For the past three months, I have been back at work full time and my little man is at day care and in the hands of someone else (gasp). I am fortunate to have a job that I love and actually look forward to going to every morning, but those days of trying to relieve my guilt by telling myself that I will come home promptly at 5, spend hours in the morning and at night playing with him and holding him are over. Times are tough and we all have to suck it up and do what we gotta do.

That romantic idea of being a mom that can have it all and balance it all is BS! With layoffs happening left and right across the nation -- from factories to major television networks -- no one is safe. Especially not a mom. Why would a company want to keep someone on that has to constantly leave for doctor's appointments and recitals and soccer lessons when they could get a younger, single, "working girl" for cheaper? We must be indispensable in a time that even the most important jobs are irrelevant. We now have to put our careers first and our families second. We have to work hard, stay late, and spend sometimes less than two hours total with our children a day. Does it suck? Sure, but something's gotta give...

I love my son more than life itself. But I also love my job -- and knowing that I can feed him and put a roof over his head in this economy far outweighs the guilt of "not being around."