Created: 02/18/2009 12:51 PM KSTP.com | Print Story

February 18, 2009 – The Guilt That Comes With Being A Mom

I was watching Desperate Housewives this past Sunday when the starting monologue talked about the guilt of a mom who works outside of the house.  I was so relieved to hear that.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not surprised, I’ve heard about that guilt time and time again, but it really spoke to me this week since I have two sick little ones and I’m not able to stay with them during the day.  I’m lucky enough to have a husband who works from home most of the time so when we do have a sick child, he is able to care for them, while still getting some work done.  It’s still hard though when I’m leaving for work and Delaney, my three year old, asked me to cuddle her for awhile, or when Hathaway, my four year old, asked why I can’t stay with them.  It breaks my heart.  I love my job…love it.  I couldn’t ask for a better job, but it’s that tug of the heartstrings that kills me in times like this.  One thing that keeps me going is when I talk to moms who are full time moms and they tell me that they have guilt too, guilt that they aren’t doing enough with their kids during the day.  So I’m thinking that guilt is just part of being a mom.  It just somehow is embedded in us during those 9 months of pregnancy and no matter what we’re doing or how we’re doing it, we’ll feel like it’s never enough.  So, maybe I’m just talking myself down this week or maybe what I’m saying is true.  I’m just happy there are shows like Desperate Housewives out there to make us realize we’re not the only ones.  It could be worse anyway.  Instead of relating to a guilt ridden Susan, I could be relating to Dave, Edie’s psychopathic husband who is plotting the demise of Mike the plumber.  If you’re a Desperate Housewives fan, you know what I’m talking about.