Before having my daughter I was certain I’d go back to work full-time. As my maternity leave came to an end I had an overwhelming feeling that I just couldn’t work full time, but I definitely didn’t want to say bye-bye to my career. A potentially long story short, I became a freelance writer/editor hoping for…

  • Part-time hours.
  • Being able to spend time with my little one.
  • Continuing my career.
  • Earning some money.

What I didn’t anticipate was the amount of guilt I had over…

  • Not working full-time.
  • Working part-time.
  • Working in-between looking after my daughter and feeling like I was doing both the freelance and mummy job poorly.
  • Then not having any work and finding myself as a ‘full-time’, stay-at-home mummy – how did that happen?
  • Feeling frustrated about the above and then angry and sad at myself for feeling that way.
  • Getting angry as a ‘stay-at-home mum’ that people somehow think you just sit on your arse all day and have lost the ability to have an opinion on anything or be able to talk ‘shop’.
  • Work picked up then back to feeling guilty about it.

Mum guilt affects 5 in 5 mums*
Where am I going with this? From time to time I find it reassuring to hear how other mums feel the same – be it working** or stay-at-home mums. I was about to share several snippets from various bloggers and articles I’ve read, when I stumbled across the below which says it all so wonderfully; and I love the suggestions on how this blogger (follow @dippyeggplease) aims to let go of her mum guilt – so have a read!

www.selfishmother.com/letting-go-of-the-mum-guilt

While it’s obviously not nice for anyone to feel guilty over so many things, I’m thankful to those below who have shared their honest thoughts and experiences of this parenting malarkey – because it really isn’t always easy and I’m glad it’s not just me that can feel ridden with all sorts of guilt.

Notes
* No actual studies were carried out, I have made this up but I bet it’s true!
**Why do working mums have a label, you really don’t hear people say he’s a ‘working dad’!