Comments on: 5 Truths From A Working Mom

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:37:44 +0000

Love your honesty here, Emily. As someone who works but isn’t a Mom, I look at the working Moms around me and don’t know how they juggle it all.

By: Elizabeth Grant Thomas

Elizabeth Grant Thomas — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:03:05 +0000

A brave post, Emily, on a fraught subject. I, too, regret the “war” that often breaks out between stay-at-home- and working-moms. Thanks for your candid perspective!

By: East Coast Surfer

East Coast Surfer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:51:12 +0000

If mommyofthree is “simply stating a disagreement” then someone needs to talk to you about the realities of a colony/state on the moon… I’m sorry…was that mean and sarcastic?… or simply stating a disagreement?

By: Kim S

Kim S — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:39:46 +0000

I always assumed I’d be a stay-at-home mom. Tried it for three years. Cried on nearly a daily basis. Being a “working mom” isn’t challenge-free either (the common denominator, the kids, may be the problem). There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to parenthood and you’re absolutely correct in that we are all in this together.

By: mommyofthree

mommyofthree — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:01:04 +0000

Emily, I must say that I hardly find my comment to be hateful, rude or taunting. I am simply stating my disagreement with a blog and my distaste for someone who seems to complain a great deal. Is this a site where only positive comments are welcome? If so, it should not be made public. Not everyone is going to agree with what others have to say, and while you may assume as well as other blog commenters that I am a stay at home mom, I am in fact a working mom. In no way am I trying to tear someone down, I am stating my opinion, and if you or Jessie don’t want it, don’t blog.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:22:04 +0000

Amen, Emily. I loved this post – hits home the point that while everyone’s situation is different in a logistical sense, where it counts we are all the same. So why not help a sister out? Well done xoxo

By: jennifer

jennifer — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:02:16 +0000

Tonight I witnessed something at the gym that should put this whole debate into perspective. There was a hubbub outside the women’s locker room. I saw two tiny children, crying loudly, surrounded by yelling adults. I thought the kids had been abandoned at the gym until I heard a woman in hospital scrubs shout, “Don’t tell me how to raise my kids, I only tapped him!” Apparently she had been seen whipping her toddler son in the head WITH A LEATHER BELT because he walked between people in the locker room. A man stood mutely by, holding a newborn in a baby carrier. Think of this family. The post-partum stressed out mom of 3 works in a hospital. Who knows if the dad works or not. They try to have a family night at the gym, but the mom thinks it’s OK to whip her tiny child to teach him a lesson, then ends up screaming at everyone in the Y who is trying to stop her. Not for a second does she admit the possibility that her approach might not only be wrong, but also criminal, as well as emotionally and physically damaging. To all moms, whether SAH or working, who are raising their children with love and compassion and mostly by good example, I thank you, on behalf of our society. Sometimes it’s very hard to cope with little ones, I know from experience, but we are the grown-ups here. And what the old people clutching your sleeve in the grocery store say to you is true: before you know it, your children will be grown and gone.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:03:00 +0000

I’m finding being a SAHM much more difficult than being a working mom (and my daughter is in school all day). You are so right about the (self-imposed) expectations of trying to keep the house clean and happy. Plus, I think the professionals at day-care and other various places along the way added soooooo much to my daughter’s confidence, education and social skills and countless other things. I also see that being too invested in the minutia of a child’s life can undermine their development as well as drive a parent crazy. Every family’s situation is unique and always changing, so there is no right or wrong.

By: tuttidimutti

tuttidimutti — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:41:20 +0000

As someone forced back to work, I love Jessie’s closet/office and her devotion to her work; both professional and personal. I find myself looking for employment now, after accepting a contract job I knew would end, but which allowed me time with my now teenaged children. They need me, in a completely different way, but almost as much as they did when they were pre-schoolers, and it’s been such a blessing to be able to be with them. Is it perfect? No way! There is financial juggling, COBRA, and house matters that become do-it-myself jobs. But, like Jessie, despite it’s imperfections, it’s a job we love and who says we can’t keep trying to perfect it?

By: rjga13

rjga13 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:45:40 +0000

For the first 7 years, I was a Working Mom, the next 7 I was a Stay-at-home Mom, and I just went back to work (25 hrs/wk). Both sides have their upsides and downsides. Em, you hit it exactly right by saying that those that want to battle should examine their own issues.

I got great advice long ago – “Happy Mommies have Happy Babies”. It has been my mantra ever since. If your lifestyle (whether it is too much work or too much laundry) makes you unhappy – your children will not thrive. Also, circumstances change. You have to change with them. No decision is forever!