Learning To Enjoy Motherhood Guilt-Free
Despite the constant judgement from society and myself.
“Day off work today, then?” The lady doing my nails asked me as I sat down for the first time that day.
“No, just an hour for lunch,” I replied. She asked what I did, and I said I was a stay-at-home mother and writer. She appeared to look at me in shock, and I felt I was being judged once more for not having a “proper” job. I felt the need to change the subject and so I asked her if she had kids.
By asking her the question I simply turned the judgement on to her without knowing it. The signs of guilt and sadness sprung to the surface as she told me she had a 6-year old in Vietnam, and a 13-month old at home with her partner, while she worked 6 or 7 days a week.
Some mothers, like me, have the privilege to stay at home, yet feel judged when we tell others about our decisions to not go back to work.
Some mothers make huge sacrifices by going to work, and in extreme cases, like hers, rarely see their children because they don’t live with them.
Needless to say, I recognised her guilt because I myself have felt it, even if the causes were vastly different. Because every mother feels guilt no matter what.
