Mother's Day redemption for working mom
What a difference a year makes.
A year ago, I wrote about my guilt over being a working mom, in response to an innocent Mother’s Day questionnaire completed at school by my then-three-year-old son. He told his teachers that his “Mommy loves to _(work)_.”
For this Mother’s Day, teachers again posed the question to my son. Only this time he answered: “My Mother likes to _(cook)_.”
No, I didn’t quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom.
But I did make a New Year’s resolution that I would make sure we had more family dinners at home. I rearranged my son’s night schedule, so that I had a better chance of making it home in time for dinner. And I started preparing meals early. Sometimes days early. Just to give myself a fighting chance to actually succeed.
Despite lots of talk in recent years about a phenomenon coined mothers “opting out” of the workplace and returning home to take care of the kids and household, a study last year showed that more women with children (not fewer) are working full-time -- and logging longer hours.
There has always been pressure to live up to an unrealistic idea of what motherhood can and should be. Just think about all the moms on the silver screen and TV shows: How many can you recall featured a working mom who didn’t always get it right? Who struggled to get dinner on the table, failed to attend PTA meetings or never made it to a weekday soccer game?
Help me come up with a list. I’ll talk about it Wednesday morning on the new SouthFlorida.com/LIVE morning show.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work.
Joy Oglesby has a preschooler...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s.
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters.
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces.
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 15, and Lily, 7, and is married to a journalist, Bob Norman. She covers Broward County government, which is filled with almost as much drama as the Norman household. Almost.
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator and the father of a 7-year-old girl, and two boys ages 4 and 3.
Kyara Lomer Camarena has a 2-year-old son, Copelan, and a brand new baby.
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