Not sure about you guys, but I think pretty susceptible to mom guilt, depending on the day and, you know, how hungry I am. I've felt it in various ways throughout my son's life. Since he was born, I've worked out of the house in an office, I've been a stay-at-home mom, and I've also been a work-from-home mom. If experimenting with these various scenarios has taught me anything, it's that there is no "one-size-fits-all" situation that will work for all moms. Still, I have to still remind myself that working from home does not mean I'm a bad mom. There are way too many factors at play, to make such a blanket statement at all accurate. Checking my phone while my kid plays in my lap, writing an email while he eats lunch in his high chair, or giving him a few extra minutes of screen time so I can meet a deadline are par for the course, and I'm okay with that.
I have so much respect for moms who are able to compartmentalize their work and home lives. For me, personally, I've found that blending the two and letting my "work life" and my "mom life" overlap one another, work best. Just because working-from-home works for me, however, doesn't mean that I don't have those absolutely trying and exhausting days that make me feel like I'm failing as a parent. When I have to essentially ask my toddler to entertain himself, so I can continue to work, the guilt whispers in my ear and tries, at times successfully, to convince me that I'm a bad mother. When I spend more time being frustrated with my kid for not giving me the time I need to focus on work, than I do happily playing with him, I can hear the guilt start to whisper again. Working-from-home is, honestly, a cycle of good days and bad days which, I'd argue, every parent experiences, regardless of their work situation.
Which is why, if you have decided to work-from-home as a mother too, you're anything but a bad mom. Will you have difficult days? You bet. Will you and your kid end up benefits from them? Definitely. So, when your guilt starts whispering in your ear too, remind yourself of these seven reasons, and cut yourself some much-deserved, hard-earned slack. You're doing great, mom.