Why I Refuse to Feel Guilty for Being a Working Mom

I'm finished feeling guilty for not being invincible. There are days I'm barely treading water because of the overwhelming amount of responsibility that I have on my plate, and allowing my children to witness my own moments of weakness, vulnerability, and fear - that is a gift I am giving them.
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I recall the exact moment I decided that something had to change.

I'd taken on a part-time position with a local museum which I'd taken specifically for the hours when my husband would be home with our three kids. And while I actually enjoyed the work, I also missed out on a lot - my daughter's last year of competing at nationals for climbing as well as weekend camping trips, family suppers, and just hanging out in the back yard with the kids on a warm Saturday night.

But the moment that pushed me over the edge was when I arrived home at 3 AM on a Saturday night. I tried to open our garage door but met resistance. Pushing a little more firmly, I realized I was actually scooting my youngest son across the tile of our foyer. At some point after being tucked into bed, our youngest woke up. He did the only thing a little boy missing his mother knew to do - wait at the very spot he knew I'd return. And so he waited on the cold tile until he finally fell asleep.

I picked my son up and carried him back to his bad, pulling up the covers up and kissing his forehead. I sat at the edge of his bed for a few moments, tears welling up as his little hand gripped tightly around my finger. And in that moment I knew that no job was worth doing this to my son.

Within the month I'd resigned my position and metamorphosed from stay-at-home mom to founder of a tech company. Not that being an entrepreneur eradicated Mommy Guilt. It didn't. But it did mean I decided what I was going to feel guilty about, because I was the one choosing the trade-offs of what I'd miss to give time to something else.

There are times now that I am definitely judged as being that mom - the one who ends up parenting her kid via cell phone while boarding a plane, who is rarely available to volunteer for anything during or after school, and the one who has more than once sent her kid off to school with a still-damp uniform after forgetting it was needed for a game after school. I'm the mom who celebrates my kid's somewhat crappy-looking science fair entry while happily ignoring the silent condemnation of his classmates' parents who see my hands-off approach as unsupportive. Truth is I have no desire to see if my participation in his project will earn him an A. It's his learning experience, and if I'm judged as the mom who doesn't help her kid with his projects, I'm ok with that. I've made peace with being that mom.

But I'm finished with feeling guilty. Or, at least, I'm finished letting anyone else decide what should make me feel guilty. If I blow off one of my kids or ignore them when they really need me, and I do it because I am far too immersed in my own thoughts to be present and listen, I should feel guilty about that. It is a poor choice that leaves me as inaccessible as if I wasn't there. If I don't parent by making my children accountable for immoral, inconsiderate, unkind, or dishonest behavior, if I don't provide comfort and perspective when my children are wounded by life, or if I'm not accessible for the average, ordinary conversations that are actually the courage-building moments when one of my children might share one of those big issues that they're carrying deep inside - if I am not available to be that parent, I should feel guilty.

But I'm finished feeling guilty for being gone on travel and not available at a moment's notice to help one of my children get out of a momentary problem. Yes, I'm unavailable. But, no, it's not the end of the world. And more often than not, it simply results in the learning moment where my kid discovers they have the inner resilience and resources to manage the issue for themselves.

I'm finished feeling guilty for not being there every morning to cook breakfast. Guess what? Cooking skills are empowering. When my teenage kid discovers he can forage in the pantry and make something to eat without setting the toaster on fire - that isn't neglect - that's fostering independence.

And I'm finished feeling guilty for not being invincible. There are days I'm barely treading water because of the overwhelming amount of responsibility that I have on my plate, and allowing my children to witness my own moments of weakness, vulnerability, and fear - that is a gift I am giving them. When they witness the same raw emotions coming from me which often hold the same power to derail their own pursuit of goals and dreams - and when they see me get beyond those momentary emotions to move forward - I am sharing with them the honesty of the journey, the reality of the pain and emotional toll that is taken from each of us if we are to grow to meet the challenges along the journey. I refuse to feel guilty for sharing that with my children.


The truth is that I absolutely love what I do now. I love our company, our vision, the problems we are helping others solve because of what we've built. I love the dynamics, talent and energy of our team. And I love the opportunities that have arisen along the journey - the chance to build rewarding friendships, the opportunity to launch an organization with a dear friend which is focused on empowering other women, and the privilege of being inspired by others who are pursuing their own dreams. I also love being a mother, even if the mother I am today isn't what I imagined. I've made peace with the messiness of it all, because it is the mess of it all, the ebb and flow of blending all of these roles together into one reality which has helped me finally feel at peace with who I am.

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