Working mama guilt

If there is one thing I often struggle with is getting out the door every morning. I have one little reason why... and she is a very good reason. My daughter! I am a full time working mama! And I HATE it, but like with everything times are hard and I don’t have the privilege to stay home with her at this stage of our life. My goal is by the time baby number two comes along we can be in a better place financially. Some people are blessed to be able to stay home with their babies and more power to them, but in my little family that is not an option right now. And that’s OKAY! I know we will get there one day at a time.  What I deal with day in and day out is the guilt! Guilt of leaving her every day to go to my 8-5 job. Granted I am VERY blessed to have her be in the comfort of her own home with a loving GREAT grandmother who loves her with all her heart taking care of her. Yes I said GREAT grandmother she is wonder woman if I ever met one! This lady is something to look up to! Guilt of missing a smile, a milestone, missing a funny noise, even missing a tear. I live with this guilt daily. I even feel like it may be a bit obsessive BUT no! this is how I feel and I validate it! She is my first and I am free to feel any which way! (Trying to convince my self) I found my self getting anxiety at the thought of leaving her once my 12 weeks was up I did take the “bonding time” I found the 6 weeks was just too soon. SO how do I manage?!?! Well I go home for lunch EVERY DAY! I am lucky enough to live about 6 minutes from work about 2.47 miles to be exact! Hehe. Yes there has been a day here and there I haven’t and I was majorly anxiety that day! I love that I get to go home and feed her lunch, play with her and usually put her down for her after nap on my lunch break! I wouldn’t have it any other way! Helps me break up the day. So I ask how do you do it? Is there mama’s out there that are as obsessive as me! So far I haven’t missed any mile stones; In fact I was the first to discover that first tooth! Yay for mommy! I may miss some smiles and some funny and cute moments but that just means that my time with her when I get home is that much more special! I really enjoy going to the park and people watching with her, we go for strolls and venture out to check out other parks. New to us both because until her I never had a reason to go to a park.  So I decided that I really needed let go of my guilt and just enjoy the time I do get with her. With this comes learning to be a great mother and a great wife and learning to spread myself even. I try hard to make every minute count with my daughter and I learned that no matter how stressed out I am I need to make sure to make time for good ol’ quality time with the hubby. Once I learned to balance my life style of a working mama and full time mama and wife I learned there are things I can do to make this a smooth transition.

So I thought id share some tid bits that seem to work for me balancing working and the household May not be anything new some and to others may be helpful. (For the bullets)

• Let go of the guilt, accept that there will be good and bad days take comfort in knowing you are not the only mama doing it. DON’T DWELL! Work through your thoughts and find an outlet weather it is your spouse, partner, friend, other mommy’s, blogging whatever works for you!
• Make your morning routines easier, if you take baby to sitter or day care pack your bag the night before no brain er there im sure. Set your keys, purse diaper bag, kids backpacks  near the door so you up and go and know you got it all…now don’t expect to never forget anything it will happen.
• Plan the breakfast menu the night before so you could just breeze through.

• Take some time to sit and eat breakfast with the kids before rushing out the door… you will be glad you did.

• Plan some easy family activities during the week so you can spend some quality time together something so simple as a movie after dinner. Involve the kids and allow them to alternate who picks the movie. Or even allow the kids in the kitchen and let them get involved with making dinner and setting the table. Take a family after dinner stroll anything that allows you time with each other is crucial for the “bonding”

And once the kids are in bed take some time with your spouse or partner and enjoy some adult one on one time. Why not have a glass of wine and play some uno? J

These are little tid bits that work for my little family and although I have a little baby 10 months old, I have been a nanny where I implied some of these things in with them that helped me to make our day smoother.

So take any minute you have with your little’s, after all they will never be little again!