It sounds like a confession. You know the one that you convey when you let go of pride, gaining the courage to get in front of the group of similar recovering personalities. In some ways it probably is. The funny part is all moms are working moms. If you are a mom well, you work.
But for me in addition to what I did at home I had a huge job I was responsible for at my place of employment. When my husband and I married we started our own business and have worked in our own companies the entirety of our married life. That included the years of raising our two daughters. I was promoting concerts, managing bands, running the operations of a record label, at the same time I was trying to move our two girls toward adulthood. My goal with them was to do this with as much success and as little damage as was humanly possible. Some days I wondered if I had the strength, sanity or energy somewhere in my weary body to pull this off.
Okay moms, I can tell you I did. My girls are grown. Couldn’t be more proud of who they are as young adults. But if I told you there were never days of self-doubt, disappointment and question of motherhood sanity, well I’d be lying. In hindsight I believe I didn’t sit down for seven years. I don’t mean literally sit down I mean stopping from doing “something”, at the office, on the road, or at home.
So now that I am officially the recovering working mom I have some tips. And these are for all working moms (whether you leave the house to another location or not).
- The dirty dishes can pile up on the counter, this may surprise you but the whole world will survive.
- When you reflect back in time it is your daughter’s special event that will remain in your memory bank. Not the meeting you missed, the toilet that needed cleaning or the groceries that weren’t bought.
- Leaving town does not require a clean house. It just gets dirty again when you get back home.
- Be the mom even when you’re tired from a long and difficult day your daughters always need their mom.
- The funny moments are worth time, attention and laughter. Silliness in the car is a joy not an irritant. They bring lightness to a heavy load.
- Cheese, crackers with a side of carrots, cereal and a can of pears really is a well-balanced dinner when you have nothing else in the house.
You can do this job, raising daughters (I did) while performing other duties. And when you stand up in front of that recovery group you can honestly say you did it not perfectly, but well. And even more importantly you will be able to confess you got a lot of chances to smile along the way.
