Confessions of a Working Mom |Thoughts

I am a working mom, I have a full-time job as a Healthcare IT Consultant where I work in an office setting Monday – Friday, I run a full-time blog (this one, duh), I have an amazing husband and two little kids to take care of, my life is busy. I constantly get the question from others “How do you do it all?”, “I don’t know how you can do it all?”. Apparently it looks like my life is really put together, but that’s probably because I only post the pretty pictures and beautiful snaps on my blog and social media. But no, I’m here to tell you that that’s not the truth, we all have mom struggles, as I do. If one thing looks like it is excelling, you can sure bet that something else in my life is failing. I can get caught up with work and blogging and making money, but then my house is a complete mess and my kids clothes are not clean. My house could be clean (well, that is a rarity), my kids could be fed and happy, but I’d probably be really backed up on blog posts that I need to write.

So I wanted to write down and share some real confessions of a working mom. Because what it really boils down to is taking shortcuts, multi-tasking, delegating work, being dirty all the time, being smart about your task list and making sure others know your struggles so they can know where you are coming from. I’ve also recruited more than 20 other amazing working moms to share their thoughts as well. So make sure you have some “me time”, grab a coffee, and sit back and have a laugh! You’re not alone!

Not A Morning Person

I hate the weekday morning rush. Trying to get myself ready for work, the kids dressed and out the door, and the daycare drop-off done (thankfully my husband does it), we are always racing against the clock to get to work on time. – Mine

I hate getting dressed for work when my boys are home. I often drop them at daycare and then return home to change and pack my work bag before heading to my office.- Jen of Fashionably Employed, Accountant

I don’t know why I even bother to get dressed up for work. By the time I get to the office, I am always wearing one of the kiddos breakfast on my shirt. Ugh, #momlife – Thuy of Hey Thuy, Nurse + Healthcare Management

I drop off my son at daycare without a stitch of makeup. I like to put my makeup on in peace. – Alison of Long Distance Loving, Medical Sales

Sometimes I put my son to sleep in the shirt he’s going to wear to school the next day. It saves just a little bit of time in the mornings whenever we’re all in a rush to get out the door. My son has a favorite “Bumblebee Boy” shirt with attached cape that he loves so much and is always excited whenever he can wear it to sleep. Win-win on both sides. 🙂 – Kileen of Cute & Little, Software Developer

At Your 8 to 5

I enjoy adult conversations and going on lunch breaks with co-workers. Sure, work can be stressful and very busy at times, but having adult conversations makes me feel normal and going on lunch dates with adults is seriously like going on a vacation. – Mine

I will never make an appointment before 10am or after 4pm if I can help it. My 8 month old daughter is my alarm clock, and I basically can’t think straight anymore after about 3pm due to lack of sleep the night before. – Lindsay of Middle of Somewhere, Guardianship Coordinator

I love to work. Because I’m fortunate enough to have a job I really love where I feel like I can make a small difference. – Veronika of Veronika’s Blushing, Sr. Public Relations Specialist

I LOVE meetings. Everyone else I work with hates them and complains about them, and before I became a mom I did too. But, now that I am a mom they are my FAVORITE. I get dressed up, I get a Diet Coke and I sit in a room with adults while they discuss things that aren’t poop or Spiderman, and nobody is whining and it’s pretty much Hawaii for me. – Liz of Pretty Life Girls, Technical Writer

Most days I leave work, and spend an hour alone. I go running, get my brows or nails done, grab coffee…..sometimes I feel bad, as if I should rush straight to pick my daughter up….but honestly? That hour makes me a better, more sane mom. – Carly of Lipgloss and Crayons, Intervention Coordinator

I absolutely adore my kids, but I look forward to the days I get to work. I was not built to be a stay at home mom, nor was it my dream. Being able to design, and do what I love keeps me from going insane. – Tiffany at Little Miss Dessa, Owner/ Designer of Children’s Lifestyle Brand

Sometimes I feel like I’m tipsy when I’m not. I think it’s the sheer amount of distractions I have looming in my mind…Did I get enough milk for day care today? Did I grab my computer charger? Is the baby coughing? Did I thaw out the chicken for tonight? Oh wait…my boss just asked me a question…what did she say? – Heather at My Life Well Loved, Real Estate Marketing

Personal Hygiene

I use baby wipes to clean everything. My own body, makeup stains, crusted up food, wine stains…. – Mine

I only wash my hair a few times each week, and only then it’s always during a shower with Leighton. Being a working mom is all about the multi-tasking. Clean baby – check. Clean hair for mom – check. And then I’m all about the bun or braid the other days of the week. = ) – Laura of Walking In Memphis In High Heels, Credit Manager

I might have “showered” with a baby wipe today. Hey, it was either make it to the 8 am meeting on time, or take a hot shower. Promise I’ve covered all the important areas (pits, tits, and lady bits- thanks Orange is the New Black for that helpful rhyme). – Brianna at Little One, Executive Director in HR

I love that I can pee in private. Work is the only place I can use the bathroom without having someone climb all over me (when I get the chance to even use the bathroom at all!) – Lauren of Lauren McBride Blog, Nurse

Chores, Housework, Errands

We always dream about hiring a babysitter for half a day on a weekend, so we can get stuff done. I actually know a few people who do this and I really just need to act on it, ASAP! – Mine

I don’t like to cook, but I do like that quiet time in the kitchen. Listening to a podcast while I’m preparing dinner gives me a little bit of downtime after the rush from the office to collect the boys and get home.- Kat of An English Mamma in Stockholm, Full-time Editor

At one point, I was ashamed that I hired a cleaning service, so I never told anyone (especially my mom). I felt like I had to keep it a secret because I wanted to appear like I could handle it all. But then I found some other working moms that did the same thing! – Seng of Sengerson, IT Project Manager

I have my spouse do errand running and grocery shopping. It’s the best. I need groceries and poof they’re there. And when I say poof I mean my husband went and ran errands while I was at work. Magic. – Natashia of Canary Jane, Illustrator

Bedtime Struggles

I wish our kids could have an earlier bedtime, but it will never work for us. I don’t know how others can get their kids to be in bed by 7 or 8PM, but since my husband and I both work, we don’t even get home until 6:30PM most days. With dinner time, bath, and reading books/singing before bed, it’s already 9:30PM by the time we can get both our 4 year old in bed, and then it takes another 30 minutes to convince him to fall asleep.

I dread bath time. I feel like the time I have with my toddler son Jona between daycare pick-up and bedtime is so short, yet the best nights are the nights my husband takes over bath duty. Story time? Love it. Playing with trains or Legos? I’m so there. But bath time, for some reason, feels like such a chore.- Shea of Shea Lennon, Executive Assistant

Looking forward to when the kids go to bed. I sometimes feel guilty about looking forward to the kids’ bedtimes so I finally get some “me” time after a busy day at the office. I feel like I should savor every scintilla of a second with the kids, who are at daycare all day. While I love hanging out with them after work and hearing about what they learned at “school” that day, I have visions of drinking a glass of red wine and watching mindless reality television to help me relax after their bedtimes. Finding guilt-free balance can be a real struggle. – Jennifer of Champagne Supernova, Attorney

I used to not sleep because of baby. But now that baby goes to bed early and sleeps through the night, I still don’t sleep. I stay up until midnight most nights because after hubby goes to bed and the chores are done, that’s the only real me time I get, ever nowadays. I am so stinkin’ tired all of the time for for no real good excuse. Worst part is, when people at work ask me why I seem so tired. I tell them the baby kept me up. They just wouldn’t understand! – Liz of Blissful in Blue, Tech Support Engineer

I Just Can’t Adult Today

I get stressed out about being alone with my two kids. That period of time when from when I pick up my kids from school to the time that Daddy gets home, I just hope I can survive that. – Mine

I LOVE spending time with my kids, but I get super bored of playing “race cars” after about 10 minutes. – Megan of Chasing Davies, Advertising Director

I constantly worry about my children getting hurt. Working in the ER for 8 years has jaded me. I am overly protective of my children and it’s because of the exposure I have had to so many accidents and illness over the years. It’s terrible! I am trying to get better about it! – Lynzy of Sparkling Footsteps, Physician Assistant

In most cases, I don’t parent on Fridays. On Thursday nights I pack lunches and backpacks and leave notes on the counter for anything unusual going on the next day. When I tuck the kids in bed later that night, my work is done. I sleep in (behind closed doors) on Friday mornings while my husband deals with all the crazy. I pick up takeout for dinner on the way home from work and everyone is on their own for the evening. The husband & I usually log a few hours on Netflix and the kids have extended screen time or play in the playroom until bed time. We get the occasional request, but for the most part our girls know that I’m “off.” Real life returns with breakfast together on Saturday, but I love the few hours each week when my life isn’t consumed with permission slips and laundry! – Kristin of Taz and Belly, Litigation Paralegal

I take a nap almost every Sunday. I used to feel guilty about this. I mean, I have papers to grade, posts to schedule, kids to play with, dinners to prep and the list goes on and on. But I’m a nicer person in general when I can sneak in a solid two hours of sleep on Sunday afternoon. In my jammies. Under the covers. – Andrea of Momfessionals, Teacher