Common difficulties that working moms face

Common difficulties that working moms face 

by Pat Merewether

As the child of a working mom and as a working mom myself who worked with other moms with full time jobs away from home, there are a number of difficulties we all share.
1. "Guilt, the gift that keeps on giving" When we are at work, we feel we should be with our children, and when we were with our children we are worried about our jobs.
2. No 'me' time. I remember feeling like Ciccifus constantly rolling that huge rock up the mountain (or mountain of laundry, car load of groceries in my world). Once in a while I'd get an hour or so to myself and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Oh, I had times when the kids were sleeping to read or watch tv, but usually I'd also have a load of clothes in the washer and the dryer or something on the stove at the same time, as well as keeping my ears alert for 'kid' sounds.

3. Resentment. I remember being really cranky when my husband would sit strumming his guitar or watching TV. Why wasn't he helping me?! But my husband was working six days a week, ten hours a day and I (again) felt guilty about nagging him to help me. When when I'd have a 'melt down' and get upset about being overwhelmed, he'd offer to help me. This created more problems than I'd had before. After answering, 'Where's the glass cleaner?' 'Can you bring me a bucket?' "I think this pan should soak in the sink for a while" "Is a cup of bleach enough for these red clothes?" "Whats the number of our home owners insurance agent." sigh.
4. Many working moms are constantly trying to over multi-task. This leads to a sort of continual frantic or anxiety feeling. When you have clothes washing/drying, food on the stove, kids demanding your attention, the phone is ringing, or you're trying to get dressed for work, pack lunches and getting kids off to school or to the day care on time day after day, it takes it's toll. Then of course after work you're usually running errands to the grocery store, pharmacy, dry cleaners, and maybe picking kids up from school or activities. Add to all this housecleaning and sometimes even yard work and home maintenance jobs and you've got one exhausted, stressed out mom. If a child gets sick, this combines worry over the child with the stress of missing work, which sometimes means also a smaller paycheck.
5. Many working moms are stressed about quality, yet affordable daycare, especially if there is an infant or toddler. Before your kids can talk, there's no way of knowing what's really going on when you leave your child. The expense of daycare can eat up a lot of your hard earned paycheck. Also, if the caregiver gets sick or is late, this adds another layer of anxiety and stress.
Most working mom's manage to make it through with their health and sanity in tact, but some don't. There have been studies that suggest that it may be better for mother and child if mom stays home, at least until the kids are in school full time and are a little more self sufficient.