Working mom as breadwinner
Being a stay-at-home parent is hard. What is like for the breadwinner who's also the mom?
CBS' The Early Show co-host Erica Hill talks about feeling guilty, letting go of control and adjusting to what's becoming an increasingly more common arrangement.
Of course, I didn't fully factor in the inevitable pangs of guilt and the frustration. The guilt wasn't new. I think every parent (especially moms) places an unnecessary amount of guilt on themselves when it comes to raising children: not home enough, not present enough while home, too distracted by the BlackBerry, not really interested in reading "Goodnight Moon" for the 347th time, not up for schlepping to the playground, too short-tempered... the list goes on and on.
Hill hits on many interesting points that any parent can relate to: Finding quality time with the kids, realizing that it's OK to find some time for yourself and to stop worrying so much about everything.
Hill concludes:
I am a work in progress, as is our family. We are now both working again, and we're learning how to be a family of four with two working parents: figuring out which bits of guilt are okay, and which ones are harmful.
Here's my takeaway from Hill's confessions: There's no right or wrong decision; that each family needs to find what works whether you work or stay at home or that both spouses work or trade off.
How did you come to your happy medium? What worked for you and what didn't? What compromises did you make? What did you gain?
Categories: Dads, Guilty-Mom polls, Marriage, Parenting in general, Work-life balance, Workplace
