In the opening scene of tonight’s episode of “Desperate Housewives”, it mentioned that you can always recognize a working mother. She might be the woman coming out of her house eating the last of her breakfast. She might be the woman coming out of her house feeling (and looking) guilty.
Now I had to say to myself, as a working mother, do I feel guilty? And the answer is a resounding NO! Don’t get me wrong, I ABSOLUTELY love my daughter, but having that adult time with other professionals is something that I welcome. I know that when my daughter is at school, she is learning new things, developing and most of all, learning how to build new relationships. I also know that when she comes home, all her attention is focused on myself and my husband and vice versa. That’s our quality time – that’s our time to see how much she’s growing, learning etc and truly savor it.
Tarita mentioned in her blog that America is one of the only places in the world that doesn’t look upon working parents favorably. I was lucky to have been born and brought up in London. I was lucky to have had my daughter in London while working. A place that – by law – gave mothers 3 months of PAID maternity leave of which it could be extended by a further 3 months with some pay. NOW, the government allows mothers to take 6 months off with an extended 6 months. And don’t get me started on fathers too, who are also catered for.
So that brings me back to the question: should you feel guilty when you go to work, knowing you can’t be at home with your kids? Well you definately have a right to, but it’s also OK if you are not. I guess you really have to ask yourself, is it fair to take that to work with you, or do you, as a parent, really have a choice?
Why don’t you listen in on our show tomorrow at 9am/12noon PST/EST on http://www.blogtalkradio.com where we’ll further discuss working parents!
C-ya!
Tiwah
