We have all heard about working-mom guilt, right? If you are not familiar what working-mom guilt consider yourself lucky. Working mom guilt is negative feelings that moms might have when they are working outside of the home and the perception that she may be not giving enough to her children and family. She may also feel as if she is not giving enough to her career because of the importance of spending time with her children.
So, how does one get past working-mom guilt?
All to often we hear the negative stories of how to stress out working moms are and how they’re not meeting the needs of their children. Working moms are often pulled between prioritizing their home life and work life and are generally not equipped with the information to illustrate the benefits of working outside of the home.
Did you know that 60% of American’s say that children are better off with a parent at home? Yes, but it does not reflect the real-world number of how many moms are working outside the home, in 2012 71% of moms was in the workforce.
The gap in how many moms believe a parent should be at home and mothers at home can cause a guilt effect. According to studies the belief that staying home is somehow superior is a myth. In the eBook, Mom Guilt they seek to dispel the myth and provide a practical guide to overcoming it. The book tells stories of working mothers in different stages of their careers and parenting and how they have successfully combatted the issue of working mom guilt.
Have you experienced working-mom guilt? I have, it’s actually the reason I left my job as a district manager for a large bank. I spent 10 years in my career, starting out as a teller and working my way up the ladder. I meet my husband 5 years into my career, we married, and he came with 3 children who’s mom passed away, so I did my best to fill in. Three years after we married we added to our family and the working-mom guilt hit. Suddenly I felt like I wasn’t giving enough to my family or my job. I did my best to balance the two but always felt like I was falling short. I left the workforce and began working from home with this blog from home.
Whether I have been working from home or outside of the home, I have been the primary breadwinner. I personally don’t mind because it not only feels good to provide for my family. I love that my kids see that gender does not define our role in life. Even though I have been the primary breadwinner, my husband supports me and our family 100%. My children get to see us function more as a team than play certain roles.
I recently started working outside of the home a bit again, and I must say I’ve missed it. It’s not the only reason to get out of the house but a part of who I am but what I want my children to know they are capable of. It’s worth getting over the working-mom guilt in my opinion.
Mom Guilt
Getting rid of working-mom guilt isn’t easy. I will admit but it is entirely possible and there is an excellent FREE eBook called Mom Guilt by Emma Johnson and Sherri Goodman that can help you get rid of the guilt. The eBook includes 15 ways to squelch the guilty feelings you may be having such as:
- Focusing on the financial realities of your life
- Identifying the roots of your guilt
- Find your village
- Separate family and work
- Revolutionize your workplace
- Cut yourself some slack
- Remember it’s all work in progress
The eBook is filled with great ideas for anyone who is starting to feel the working-mom guilt set in.
There are also great interviews of successful women who are in various stages of their career in the eBook. The one I identified with the most was Corinne McDemott, the founder of HaveBabyWillTravel.com. Like Corinne, I started my blog shortly after returning to work from maternity leave with the high hopes of becoming my own boss working from home. It takes a bit of practice but working-mom guilt can be overcome with the right information, tools, and outlook. If you feel working-mom guilt. I cannot suggest reading Mom Guilt enough. There is great information and inspiring interview to help you through feeling guilty.
In addition to the 50+ page eBook, BBVA Compass has partnered on a 10-podcast series with a personal finance writer and blogger on her website, Wealthy Single Mommy, Emma Johnson. You can find the podcast series features on BrightIdeasForBusiness.com included with interviews of successful women who are in various stages of their career. They explore the topics of women in the workforce, what it is like to be the primary breadwinner in a marriage or relationship, women in tech careers and more. Be sure to follow BBVA on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
This is a sponsored post written by myself for BBVA–Working Moms Mean Business. All opinions are my own.
3 comments
Thank for sharing this wonderful article ,I am also feel like guilty for not able to taking care of two year old as i wish somehow i can connect with your article .
I think another hard part about being a working mom (for me) is that it often falls to me to arrange childcare. Since I don’t work full time in either job and a lot of it is from home, that’s just how it works out sometimes. I still deal with the tension between my own expectation that I would be a stay-at-home mom and the fact that I love doing things outside of just raising my kids. I agree that it’s good for our kids to see us working hard, contributing to society, and making our dreams come true, but that mom guilt still creeps in from time to time.
It is so hard for mom to leave their children at home while they work. We do feel guilty but in todays time it really takes a two family income. This is a great article with great information. Thank you so much for sharing