There have been numerous Mother’s Day ads floating around and a few blog posts geared towards the working mom. Being a mom and working is quite difficult unless The Lord gives you peace about it. I have had that peace for 5 years now. That peace now comes and goes.
It’s hard…..
- when you know your children are home sick with someone else.
- when you miss their “firsts”
- when you want to be the one to take them to lunch or run errands
- when you are spending your day with other children that are not biologically yours
- when you want to be the one to change their diapers but you can’t
- when you wake up before everyone else and can’t give a good-bye hug or kiss.
- when you want to be outside with them running around and playing.
- when you see piles of laundry and dirty dishes when you get home from work and all you want to do is be with your children.
- when you can’t put them down for a nap or just cuddle with them.
What is not hard is God’s grace and how he calls you to different seasons. God has been with me steadily throughout my teaching profession and without Him I could not have done it for the past 5 years.
BUT how do I know when He is calling me somewhere else? How do I know that is it’s just my emotions taking over? How do I know it’s not just what I want but what He wants?
I am praying that he would make that abundantly loud and clear. I feel like I have missed crucial parts of my kid’s lives but then I know I have been exactly where I have needed to be.
Working all day and then coming home to my husband and kids is hard some days. Actually most of the days.
What keeps you going as a working mom? How do you do it? What gets you through the day?
I praise God for getting to teach and instill His word in their lives every day! I love it but also don’t love missing moments with my children. 🙁
Thank you Lord for your peace and grace.
So if you are a working mom, I feel you. I have been there. I am there with you. God has your children in his hands. After all he is lending them to us any way 🙂
Thank you for sharing this! As someone who's been the one caring for the children while mom was at work, I know how hard it is to leave your little everyday and leave them with someone else. There's a special bond between a caregiver and their little one, but a mother child relationship trumps it all no matter what.
I was a working mom. While I was a working mom I was Active Duty military and had a deployed husband for 9 months. While he was gone, I was threatened by some that they were going to send me overseas (I would have done it once my husband came back regardless but…) and I would have had to leave my son with my parents until either my husband or I came home. It was that moment I knew I had to get out. Now that I have 4 kids, I know that as women, working or not, we are called to a season in our lives that are crucial for our growth. Whether that growth is spiritual, financial, or any other growth.
Being a working mom is definitely hard! I have been there and felt so much guilt, too. You are right, though, we just have to pray for peace. I now work at home full time, but Mason is in Pre-K. So we still don't get to spend every day together. There are times that I do keep him home from school just to give his little mind a break (and while I can while he's not in Kinder and has to be there) and to spend time with him! I know that I am doing him a favor by putting him in Pre-K and it will help his future school years, but I can't help but miss him!
Yes and yes! So well said!
So, I tried to post and then it froze…
I really appreciate you sharing this post. I am an active duty mom and I had to go back to work a couple weeks ago. I have to pump all the time instead of being home with my baby and nursing him instead. I worry that he's going to love his caregiver more than me all the time. I miss him like crazy. My first, can you tell? lol. But you're right. God gives us so much grace to get through it. So, thank you for making some of us remember that again. <3
I have so much to say about this topic. It still breaks my heart to leave Cole. Summer goes by so fast. I hate the battle of working mom vs. SAHM but good lands when I'm home in the summer our home is seriously heaven. The house is clean, hot meals are served every single night and our house runs so smooth. However there are great pros to my career as well. This season can be very hard.
I really needed to read this today. I am a full-time student and soon-to-be going to full-time work and it just breaks my heart sometimes when I see her hugging the ladies at nursery while I rush off to uni/work. It's difficult, no way around it, but I do love what I study and where I'll be working. At the end of the day, she knows that I love and I know that she's in a safe environment where she's thriving 🙂
I'm so scared to go back to work in June. It's going to be so hard to leave the babe but I know it's best for everyone in the family so sigh a mamas gotta do what a mamas gotta do
Being a working mama is a full time job in itself with all of the anxiety and sadness that comes along with it. God brings us to these different seasons of life because he knows we can handle it. I firmly believe that if He brought you to it, He will help you get through it. 🙂
Beautiful post from the heart! Working mom/stay at home mom/work at home mom… we all share the same feelings.
Great post and, while I do work, I work nights so I do get to be home with my son during the day. This post was great for me to read because I can easily take that for granted when I'm frustrated! Keep at it mama, you're awesome!
beautifully written! I totally understand a little bit about what you miss! This past summer, I worked & left my son with family. It was really hard because I just wanted to be with him. But, like you said, God had me in that place for a reason… Currently I am a stay at home mama, but my heart goes out to those mamas who go to work outside of the home. to be honest, there are times when I want to go back to work, but this is where the Lord has me & I need to be diligent in that!
I honestly don't know that anything besides the money keeps me going. I only work as much as I need to to keep our bills paid, which is about 20-25 hours per week. And even with those few hours I still feel like it is way too much and I have no free time.