Today I am talking about something that many of you mamas out there might understand all too well…Mom Guilt. It’s the worst. Something a lot of you might not know about me is that I work full time and my husband is a stay at home Dad. I actually love our arrangement most days, but then some days I find myself feeling guilty for working and not being at home with my babe. I start to ask myself questions like, ‘shouldn’t I be home with him? I am his mom after all…’ But my husband is such an AMAZING Dad he makes me feel so good about going to work and is always reassuring me that I am providing for the family right now and that is okay.
Anyhow, I wanted to share a few tips of how I have been dealing with the work-life balance and being a working mom. I would also love to hear from all of you with any tips you have for managing being a (new-ish) mom and working and still trying to have a life but not feeling guilty about it!
My tips for managing work-life & mom-life:
- Maximize my time at home with little one – I’ve found this to be one of the best things I can do to minimize my “guilty” feelings when I have to go do something for myself or have to leave for work. When me and my son do have quality time at home together I try to maximize that time and really spend quality one-on-one time together. I set down my phone (or put it in the other room because reaching for it is all too easy) and get down on the floor and play with him! He loves reading books together or just crawling around and having a good time. When I do this then I don’t feel as guilty when I have to head out to work because I know we were able to spend quality time together that day. Also, on the weekends I try to do ‘me’ things while he is napping, like getting my nails done or getting a quick workout in!
- A happy healthy momma is a good momma – This is something I’ve found to be true over the past few months. The more time I spend to focus on my overall health and wellbeing the more energy I have to be the best Momma I can be! I went to a workout class for the first time since having my son the other day, and let me tell you – the guilt was real. I thought I was going to be thinking about him the entire time I was there, but not at all! I was actually able to focus on myself and when I got home I was infused with the drive and energy to help create a healthy lifestyle for the entire family.
- Include the family – I love this tip because it allows you to complete tasks you need to get done while spending quality time with the family as well! For us, we love to take nightly walks which is just an awesome time for us to spend time outside (which my son loves) and I usually try to work in some exercise here as well. We recently got a jogging stroller too so it is fun for us to pop our little guy into the stroller and go for a light jog. Another thing we do together which might surprise some are blog photos! My husband takes my photos so we usually try to make it a fun outing and snap some pictures along the way. So usually my son is right outside of the frame of the photo and as you can see with these pictures we decided to get him in a few which was definitely fun for us all!
So, mamas! Tell me – what do you do to manage this work-life balance we are all trying to manage? Please share any tips you have with me in the comments below! Now, since it’s Monday – back to work I go!
My outfit:
His outfit:
