Posted On: Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 10:42 am
I spoke to a friend today who used to live here in Portland but has moved to the East Coast. Megan left just over a year ago now. ¬†I miss her. It was nice catching up with her. ¬†She told me how hard she is finding it working full time, picking up kids from daycare, getting them home and into the bath, making dinner and then settling them down after milk and bedtime stories. Megan’s husband doesn’t return home from work until the kids are fast asleep. She is incredibly tired all the time. She has no time to look after herself. She doesn’t have the time to work out and exercise like she used to do when she lived in Portland.
Megan was speaking to me while making her daily hour commute, from work to their daycare, to pick up the kids.
As I stay at home mom, I often moan about this role. I ¬†am at the point now where I am thinking about working again. I am worried that if I should be so lucky to find a job that I will still have to be the one who picks up the kids from daycare, get them home and bathed as well as get dinner ready. I am not sure if I am up to splitting my time and my responsibilities. ¬†It’s a difficult one for me. I think because I have been a full time mom and didn’t give up work to go on maternity leave and then returned to work, I don’t feel the pressure at all like my friend Megan does to succeed in both her roles of career woman and mom of two kids.
Being a full time mom is ¬†a juggling act as it is and throwing a full time job into the mix scares me. I don’t think I could do both jobs well.
I miss working outside of the home. Before I had kids I had a great job. I came to USA from London and had happily given up my working life, at the time. I miss making my own money and being independent. I rely on my husband for money for the kids clothing and the food that we eat. It took a while to get used to asking for money to  buy things for myself and the children. It still feels weird for me.
I want a career too someday.
I don’t want to be stay at home mom forever. I see this role as a job where I am working full time.
Right now though after hearing my friends story I feel blessed that I got the time to spend with my babies who are 3 years old and 18 months old, in these  early years which have flown by so quickly.
Tags: blog, career, chores, home, house, housewife, job, kids, time, work
I also would love to have my financial independence back, but I also don’t want to have to chose between my family and my job. So, for now I try to remind myself everyday that what I do at my “mom job” is more important than making money.
I used to be a fulltime career mom until a few months back when my work week was reduced to 3 days, so I feel like I get a little of both.
Being a stay at home mom has to be the hardest job ever but it is also the most rewarding. To have the opportunity to stay home and see your babies grow is something amazing.