September 15, 2012
New Moon 23° Virgo
The journey of the working mom is not easy, actually nothing is ever easy in this reality. The basics questions are obvious - how to meet the needs of self and family, without getting overly stressed. Moms today work for many reasons - needed income, to get out of the house, to make a difference, and find greater meaning for themselves.
What I have found is that moms who can work from home, or work part time, have the best of both worlds. Some attend school part time to build for the future when children are older. Staying home with toddlers has never been easy. Women need adults to talk to, and personal goals to achieve, or depression sets in. Parenting, in any culture, is always in a state of change coinciding with the nature of society in which one lives.
All of life, all of reality, all of the issues people face, are just common sense when you think out it. There are lots of websites and blogs to help moms in today's world, or they can create their own. The one thing many people think they can do successfully, but are wrong about, is multitasking. You can't spread yourself too thin and stay in balance. Most importantly is the emotional and physical state of moms and their children.
The One Thing Most Moms Really Want Live Science - September 13, 2012
Happiness is often a grass-is-always-greener prospect for moms. Nearly half of all working moms in a recent survey said their overall happiness would increase if they weren't working, yet nearly one in five stay-at-home moms said they'd be happier if they worked outside the home.
Research by pregnancy and parenting website TheBump.com, a pregnancy web site, Forbes Woman revealed that nearly 70 percent of the working moms surveyed feel pressure to be in the office because their family can't survive without the added income, yet more than half say their partners or others sometimes make them feel they aren't devoting enough time to their kids.
For moms who do stay home, the survey found that 44 percent said they have a husband who sometimes makes them feel like they're not pulling their own financial weight.
This survey reveals that whether working or stay-at-home, moms are feeling pressure from their financial situations and partners to choose their role. The increased financial pressures being faced by families are taking their toll on mothers. The majority of working women tell us they consider the opportunity to stay at home with their children to be a financial luxury, and more than a third resent their partners for not earning enough to make it a possibility. This raises some significant questions for parents and the companies that hope to keep them in the workforce.
The combination of parenting and financial pressures has forced women to give up their personal time and wants, the survey found. Nearly half of working moms and 34 percent of stay-at-home moms said their biggest sacrifice was "me" time. In addition, the research shows 63 percent of working moms and 78 percent of stay-at-home moms spend $100 or less on themselves each month.
Personal spending and even full-time careers are taking a backseat to raising children and are ultimately having an effect on moms' overall happiness. The study was based on surveys of nearly 1,000 stay-at-home and working married or partnered mothers in the United States.
