SAHM VS Working Mom

I have had some week!  Work was exhausting!  I miss the days that I could see my boys off to school and then be here with dinner ready when they get back home.  Going to school parties and being a chaperon for school trips.

I was thinking this week.  I remember back with my first son and while I was still married.  I was determined to do the stay at home mom thing.  I was hell bent on being there, being the soccer mom, boy scout mom, PTA mom, doing it all.  And I did!  I was creative and always thinking of ways to make my son's day better!   Play dates, home made play dough and finger paints,  rice tables, trips to the park, rainy day activities.  I loved every part of being a SAHM!   I volunteered for EVERYTHING!

When my son was in second grade, I was pretty much the only classroom mom that year. I remember thinking, WHERE are the parents?  Where are the other moms?  Don't they care?   I would NEVER miss an opportunity to be here and do this for my children.  How can you not want to be here?

I was there every year my oldest son was in elementary school.  It hit me hard this week as I celebrated my youngest's 11th birthday, that this is his last year at elementary school.  He will be heading off to middle school.  And I have not had the opportunity to be there like I was with my oldest.  It saddened me greatly. What I was able to do for my first son, I was not able to do for my second because of circumstances beyond my control.

LIGHT BULB moment for Marcy.... perhaps those other parents wanted to be there too, but because of jobs and not having personal time or vacation time to utilize or because of other circumstances beyond their control they could not.

OH MY GOSH, another light bulb moment!  .....I've so been guilty of being one sided in the working mom versus stay at home mom war.  I'm awful, how judgmental of me!!!

Working parents AND stay at home parents both make sacrifices.  Both want the best for their children. For some that means staying home and being that guiding force with a more hands on approach from that early age.  For others that means going to work to provide for more than the basic necessities.  And obviously for some that means going to work because they really do need to be able to provide just the basic necessities.

Everyone has to make a choice as to what is beneficial for their family.  There should be respect for the process even if that means there is a different outcome than what we originally believed in.

Even though I am saddened that I haven't been able to be there at the school for Camden, as I was for Noah, I have come to terms with the fact this is a new chapter in our lives.  I continue to be as much of a part in my boys' lives as I can be.  We have dinner as a family.  We fold laundry together. We have game nights.  I run them to their activities.  I find that the car rides are the best conversation times!