Why Being A Working Mom ROCKS: A Top Ten

I don't know about you, but my time spent at home wasn't a walk in the park even when I was actually walking in the park. When I was on maternity leave (yay Canada!) I felt so isolated and unproductive.

I've been told that feeling that way might make me a bad mother, that I shouldn't say such taboo things, because other people might think I don't love my kids. And to that, I say, Pishaw!

I love my boys and their curly mop tops to the moon and back. Does that mean I need to spend every waking minute with them? No. Does that mean I shouldn't enjoy some kid-free time on the regular? No.

It actually shocks me, SHOCKS ME, how much this whole SAHM (stay-at-home-Mom, for all of you bloggyweb neophytes) has become the modern trend. How people actually manage to buy and carry a home and all of these worldly expenses we have, on one income. I don't just WANT to work, folks, I'll lay that down now, I NEED to work. Even with two incomes we barely squeeze by, let's just say buying groceries at Whole Foods isn't an option for us.

But beyond the actual requirement of working in order to, ohidunno, pay the bills, I actually LOVE working. I love its face off. I love feeling productive in a work environment. I love lists. I love project management. I love the gratification of seeing my projects come to life in a real-worldy kind of way.

And as much as I love my babies and their jam hands, I also really really really don't love being at home all day. When I was at home I tried taking my work-productive brain and making it a home-productive brain and it just never clicked. No matter how many laminated toddler learning sheets and daily activity charts I made, I just couldn't stop feeling out of my element.

SO this list, it is for the working Mama's. The ones who are made to feel less than because they want more. The ones who cringe at the idea of smelling playdough on their hands and prying their kids away from the TV long enough to do a learning activity. Shout out to the Mama's who CAN DO it because I know I certainly cannot.

..........

Here it is, folks, the TOP TEN REASONS BEING A WORKING MOM ROCKS! 

10. Getting the morning routine down to a science. Including the snooze button for an extra ten minutes. (Pro-Tip, set the alarm ten minutes earlier so you can still get your "snooze!") 



9. Sick Days. You actually get them.



8. Being eternally grateful to your Daycare Provider, who spends all day with your teeny tiny monsters, teaching them and loving and kissing them when you can't be, but also leaves room for all the love for Mama.



7. Plastering your work space with pictures of your littles. Daily inspiration reminding you why you work hard for the money, honey!


6. Looking forward to seeing their little faces at the end of a long day (as opposed to being at home all day and wanting nothing more than to have your partner take over when they walk through the door.)



5. Lunch breaks! It's just not as fun to "take a lunch" at the mall and browse the new stock at your favourite store with your kids in tow. 



4. Christmas/Birthday Shopping. Being able to spend some of those lunches running errands sans kidlets becomes MUCH easier. 



3. 60% less tantrums. Again, thank the flying spaghetti monster for the daycare provider! You may still get the at-home crazy moments but they're cut by more than half!



2. Weekends. Are. The. Best. -- Instead of being more of the same... with the exception of having your partner around to make a bigger mess, you're able to actually unwind, maybe even sleep in. (shocking, I know.)



...and the #1 reason being a working mom rocks is: 


1. The feeling you get when you walk in the door after a long day and your toddler comes running at you shouting "Mommy! Mommy!"