Tag: working moms

25 Ways to Make a Working Mom’s Life More Bearable

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In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I might share some things that people—family, friends, spouses, etc.—could do to actually make a working mom’s life easier and more bearable.

People offer help. They mean well. But let’s be honest: Working moms often end up doing everything by ourselves anyway. So instead of gifts (which are lovely and we’ll take them, thank you), try one of the suggestions below to make Mother’s Day really magical for the bone-weary working mom in your life. You can even take it to the next level and implement these year-round …

1. Spend time with us in low-key ways. We’re busy, but we promise we want to see you.

Read More: 25 Ways to Make a Working Mom’s Life More Bearable

Happy Mother’s Day!

Laura

10 Myths, Pros and Cons of Being a Breadwinning Mom

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Did you know that breadwinning moms make up some 40 percent of all U.S. households’ major (or equal with partner) earners? That’s according to a 2013 Pew study, and we hear that the number has risen since then. Yep—that’s a lot of us working moms!

Even so, there are myths and stereotypes that still surround breadwinning moms, like these:
She emasculates her husband with her success.
She’s too concerned with her career.
She’s bound for divorce with her success.

But beyond these less-than-flattering and less-than-truthful attributions are the positives that we know, like the fact that commanding a good salary and supporting your family is a wonderful and empowering scenario. The reality is that today there are many pluses to being a breadwinning mom that go beyond making the sole or larger paycheck—in or a marriage or not.

Here, a family and relationship expert—and real-life breadwinning mom—helps us dismantle the falsehoods and promote the truths of this way of life.

1. Myth: A breadwinning mom’s success wrecks her marriage or relationship.

The idea that heterosexual breadwinning moms are ruining their relationships with their career/financial status is a modern-day myth, asserts Stephanie Coontz, author of the award-winning A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960sand director of research at the Council on Contemporary Families. “It used to be true that couples where a women earned more than her husband faced a higher risk of divorce. But for marriages formed in the 1990s and later, that is no longer true.” Take that, myth! But …

Read More: 10 Myths, Pros and Cons of Being a Breadwinning Mom

Times Are a Changin’

Laura

10 Signs You’re a New Working Mom

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If you still dread handing off your new baby to daycare, if you wonder how you’re going to manage at work while missing your precious kids, if you’re toting a breast pump back and forth every day, if you’ve got spit-up on your button-down shirt, yep, you’re a new working mom. You know what? Millions of mothers who have walked the same path have survived and thrived (and so have their kids). It will get better, it will get easier. Meanwhile, take comfort in these new-working-mom common bonds—and take in a few tips too.

1. Your daycare knows your voice the minute you say hi.

You have called your caregiver so many times that they know your ring and answer the phone with your name. But they get it: You can’t help checking up on your child. Meanwhile, to manage daycare anxiety pangs:
• Be sure you’ve chosen the right childcare fit for your situation. It could be daycare, it could be a nanny or an au pair. If you’re not sure which is the better way, read this article on which option will work best for you.
• Remind yourself to breathe—your anxiety may be affecting your health.
• Ease up on yourself. It’s totally OK to be concerned this new phase for you and your baby.

Read More: 10 Signs You’re a New Working Mom

It’s Tough, But You Can Do It!

Laura

Making Time to Play With Your Child as a Working Mom

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While each situation has its pros and cons, I miss the time I had to play with my child when I was a stay-at-home mom. To add salt to the wound, as a divorced mom, I have to split my time with my daughter even further. It often feels as if my time with her was cut by 75 percent, and each weekend I have with her seems to whiz by. When I tell you that even eating breakfast with my daughter is a delight, I am not lying. With my work schedule and the custody schedule, I live against the clock.

A big challenge for any parent but especially a working parent who is not home for one-on-one time with the children is finding time to play with your little ones. Weekends aren’t just for playtime — they’re for errands, homework if your children are old enough, couple time (if you’re married), and then some. You often feel as if you’re stuffing a life into short sprints of time and clinging to minutes. This is where that serious working-parent guilt comes into play. I remind you, working moms: “It’s quality and not quantity.” You could sit down with your child every day from 9 to 5, and if you simply stared at your kid, what much good would it be? Not much. To all parents, working or not: it’s the quality you put into your interactions with your kids that matter. Not the hours.

Read More: Making Time to Play With Your Child as a Working Mom

Making the Time,

Laura

Is it Time to Leave Your Job?

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For some moms, going to work is an easy choice because they love their jobs, but for other moms working is simply a choice dictated by financial need. Sometimes though, a job may end up not being worth that paycheck. Here are a few situations in which you may want to give your two weeks’ notice whether permanently or temporarily.

Work Stress

Do you come home with constant agita, migraines, nausea, or other health issues? Are you having trouble sleeping? Is work stress and problems spilling into your home life? Is it impossible to just leave work at work? If you answered yes, it sounds like your job has become a pressure cooker. Add bonus points if you’ve lost or gained a considerable amount of weight.

Is this stress affecting not just you but also your family members? If you find yourself snapping at your kids, distracted while playing with them, forgetting family events, or struggling to keep up at home and work, your work stress may be affecting more than you alone.

Read More: Is it Time to Leave Your Job?

Work- Life Balance Isn’t Easy,

Laura

How To Make Your Mornings Smoother as a Working Mom (OR Dad!)

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Weekday mornings or any day at mom heads out to go to work have a special place in h*ll for us working moms. Sure, we have our smooth days when our kids leave with us without complaint and on time and heck, we even exit with a good hair day and a smile on our face … but then there are those other days. You know what I mean—the days when you turn into Mommy Dearest and your children are the biggest utter pains in the you-know-what’sand for one brief moment you seriously consider shipping those ungrateful children of yours to China or India to work in a sweatshop, but hey, then you have to pay for their airfare. Thankfully, you love them so much that you let these bad moments slide and let’s be honest mom: you melt down too on some mornings aren’t exactly the coolest cucumber on the block. I know for me the weekday mornings are the most trying time of day for me, so I’ve gathered a few tips on how to make the mornings mellower and not so manic!

Read more: How To Make Your Mornings Smoother as a Working Mom

Workin’ For A Livin’,

Laura

4 Pitfalls Working Moms Face

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Whether you’re working or not, motherhood is a challenge, but a joyful one of course! There are, however, a few pitfalls that we working moms face that can not only drain our mental resources but also take away from our general well-being and allover “feel-goodness.” Let’s address these pitfalls and figure out some ways to combat them.

Read more: 4 Pitfalls Working Moms Face

Workin’ For A Livin’,

Laura

To The Working Mommy: You’re Doing a Good Job

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To The Working Mommy: You’re Doing a Good Job

Hi Working Mom. You probably left for work late today. You probably forget to do something at home, and you’re probably going to have to leave work early today because of your kid.

You never feel like you can fully commit to either: your kid or your job, because you’re torn between two places.

Being a working mom means dividing yourself in half, and hoping you can multitask enough to make sure both of the plants are watered properly, so to speak. Continue reading →