The Joys of Being a Working Mom

     Before my daughter was born, I had no concept of what it was like to be a working mom. I worked 8 hours, came home, did my chores and then had plenty of time to do whatever the heck I wanted. My husband worked as an EMT at the time and we often worked opposite hours so I was truly on my own.

 When our daughter was born, everything changed. My life now revolves around her, and I couldn't be happier. I stayed home for the first three months before I had to go back to working eight hour days, five days a week. Now, I'm a preschool teacher, so you can imagine the guilt I felt raising other people's children while my own daughter was at home with her Gigi. 

*Side note: I love my mother and she's done an amazing job taking care of my daughter, but still I felt completely guilty leaving her in someone else's care*

     I was struggling with how to organize my day so I still had time to interact and play with my daughter, make dinner, and do all of the household duties. I was struggling with the guilt of leaving my daughter...how did these moms do it?! I only had one kid but I felt completely lost and defeated....there just wasn't enough time in the day to do everything I needed and I was so jealous of all my friends who were able to stay home with their babies. 

     All of that being said, I have a friend who chose to stay home after she had her son, an option I wish I had been able to choose. She still to this day has NO CLUE why I never have time to hang out with her and her son. I've explained several times that I work 6-7 hours a day and still have to pick up my daughter, come home, make dinner, have bath time and bedtime and try to squeeze in some one on one time with my daughter. Let's be real, I don't even have time to pee let alone plan a play date. How am I supposed to say to her that I'd rather spend time with my daughter than have a play date?! 

     Now that Emery is 15 months old, I've learned a few tricks. Most of my cleaning is done after she goes to bed, laundry is a family chore done on Sundays, and play dates consist of trips to Target or the park--kind of a two birds, one stone thing. I invite friends to go shopping with me whenever and wherever I go. If there's a craft I want to make then I have a craft day with friends and their kids. I've learned to just adapt to the situation and make it work. It's definitely not easy, but I'm still trying to figure this whole mom thing out and hopefully I'm doing a good job. ;)

-Randi