Are working moms stretched too thin?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Are working moms stretched too thin?
1078
Tue, 06-13-2006 - 2:45pm

Do you think a mom who works full-time and has kids is stretched too thin?

I was working full-time up till November of 2005. Then I decided that it was all too much. I was exhausted and found that when I did get to spend time with my little guy (he is now 2 1/2) I was very impatient with him because I was soo tired. Also the stress of work often overflowed into my personal life (both with ds and dh).

Now that I have been home for over 6 months, I am finally starting to be more patient and am enjoying my son instead of rushing him along. If he want to take 20 minutes to get into the car - ok, no problem.

So - do you think that trying to juggle work, kids, marriage and all the stresses that come with those things is too much? (I did)

Maybe when my son is older - then I will go back to work and it might be easier because he will be more self-sufficient? Who knows? All I know is that for now, I am enjoying being a SAHM and am glad for the time I get to devote to my son and the lower stress levels (that I believe were very unhealthy for me).

josee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2001
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 8:40am

You misunderstood my point.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2001
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 8:43am

Sure - but it was part of how she was raised - she felt it was "her job" to do everything.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-09-2006
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 8:50am

"I have chosen to keep my VERY HIGH PAYING JOB because I LOVE MY VERY HIGH PAYING JOB, even though I can afford to quit. "Why not quit if you can afford it?" Why would I? If it's okay for someone who needs the money to work, then it's okay for me to work. I'd rather have the ability to sock money away for college and retirement, and without my VERY HIGH PAYING JOB, there wouldn't be a college fund."

Why do you keep stressing your "very high paying job"?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 9:01am

great post tb3.

while i agree that a sahm usually carries most of the weight wrt domestic chores (cooking etc.),it wasn't my out for not pitching in with my own sahm.

>>Any sahm thinking about divorce is going to get a job first. Then divorce.<<
my sentiments exactly......there is not one sahm i know who divorces while in her sah element....divorced woh friends know better than that.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 10:20am
i think it goes beyond just seeing differences. you have your first child, you learn together what works, then you have a second child, and think gosh, ive done this before, ive got it down - except then not one thing that worked with child number one works with child number two, or subsequent children. i have three kids and not one of them is similar in personality or temprement and very little if anything that worked for one worked for the others. this is why i feel so strongly about parenting each individual child instead of having a set way of parenting
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 11:44am

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I totally and 100% disagree with you.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 11:47am

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Why?


PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 12:03pm

You said that your mom returned to work when you were 12. That means she was a WOHM from the time you were age 12. So how did her being a SAHM when you were 0-12 keep you from learning to cook? That gave you six years, from 12-18, to learn at home when she wasn't a SAHM? Are you saying that since she didn't teach you in elementary school as a SAHM you couldn't learn in middle school or highschool either when she was a WOHM?

Since you had a WOHM from age 12-18, just like your friends with WOHMS, why were you behind the curve in learning to cook and clean? What were you doing for those 6 teen years that you lived with your working mom?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 12:07pm
In an earlier post you said she went back to work when you were 12. So why didn't you learn to do cooking and cleaning when you were a teen and she was a WOHM? If she felt it was "her job" EVEN WHEN SHE WORKED, then it has nothing to do with her being a SAHM. Because she WAS NOT a SAHM once she went back to work.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2005
Tue, 06-20-2006 - 2:47pm

<>

But, it had nothing to do with your mom sah. My mother sah and returned to work when I was around 10. I learned how to cook very young and we always had chores. My dh's parents spilt when he was young and his mother had to work 3 jobs. He *hated* his mother working. He never saw her and they had to grow up way to quick.

It has to do with the type of parent you have not their work status.

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