So my daughter has always done that annoying kid thing of saying “Mom mom mom mom mom mom…” Until I respond. Drives me crazy.

Well, she’s almost 11- comes in the room and starts in. “Mom?”

One second, I say.

“mom mom mom mommy mom mom”

“If you say Mom one more time…”

Then she says, “Lois Lois Lois Lois”

I just turned around and high fived her.

  

I recently read an article in the Huff Post (ok, the article is over 2 years old….but it took that long for me to see it on some random Facebook post) titled “What Not to Say to a Working Mother” (link to article is below).

It cited a few things not to say, such as: “Can’t you afford to stay home?”, “Why did you have kids just to have someone else raise them?”, “Don’t you worry you’re missing out?”, “I’d miss my child if I were away from them all day”.

I enjoyed this, and can add a few of my own to this list:

“Oh, you work? Who is your nanny?” Sigh. I heard this on the first day of Kindergarten. I’m the mom, the nanny, the maid….all of the above.

“Why don’t we ever see you at the Mommy lunches/field trips/PTA meetings?” Because I was busy working to be able to afford to live here.

“Wow, I’m so busy at home all day- I don’t know how I would possibly work on top of all of this!” This came out of the mouth of a mom standing next to her full time nanny…who once also told me she did all the laundry in the house as well.

For the record, I have NOTHING against most stay at home mothers. I envy my few friends who are able to stay at home most of the time. I miss out on a lot with my kids, and it makes me sad sometimes. But, there is no financial option for my family except that both my husband and I work full time. This is the sacrifice we make to live in one of the nicest, most expensive areas in the United States.

What I do have a problem with is the moms who whine about having to stay home, but clearly don’t do anything all day but hang out and go to the gym. You know the mothers I’m talking about: They drop their kids off at school in yoga pants, Hunter Boots, North Face vest and a baseball cap, stand on the playground for an hour at drop off gossiping, then head to the local gym/Pilates/yoga studio for a couple hours before meeting for lunch. Then, they run home, shower, change into another mom uniform (skinny jeans, Uggs and the same North Face vest from the morning) and pick the kids up from school.  These are the women who I drop my kid off for a play date at their house, you walk in and there are piles of laundry everywhere, unwashed dishes in the sink and their instant statement to me when I walk in “oh my god, my house is such a mess, I’m sorry- I was so busy this week with a PTA meeting last night, I don’t know how YOU do it with a job!”

Look, I’ll tell you how I do it. I’m exhausted. ALL. THE. TIME. I have a million balls in the air constantly. I have to remember when I have financial reports due at work at the same time that I have to remember that there is a birthday party this weekend and a pediatrician’s appointment next week. I go grocery shopping on my lunch breaks. I pay my bills from my phone while I am in between meetings. But I keep it together. In fact, the only proof that my entire life is chaos is my car. My car is a disaster. If the Health Department visited my car, I’d get shut down.

Someday, however, I fully anticipate a nervous breakdown. Or the need to be medicated. Hasn’t happened yet, but stay tuned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-corneal/what-not-to-say-to-a-working-mom_b_2566952.html

I feel the need to start a blog for the modern working wife and mother who doesn’t have perfect kids, doesn’t own a home, and is struggling to stay afloat in the modern world. Sorry Gwyneth, you really don’t get it-no matter how much you think you do.

Just getting started here…so be patient with me.