Nataly, over at Work It, Mom! started an interesting weekly feature that asks you to “Speak Your Mind“ via an essay contest. Winner gets a $50 gift certificate from Spafinder.com (hello, why wouldn’t you do it!?) This week’s topic is:
If money was no issue, would you work and what would you do? Here’s what I wrote:My husband makes a nice living, and therefore I don’t have to work. I live in my dream house, have a car that I can drive where I please and order take-out for dinner. (Cook? Who, me?) But yet, even with all the creature comforts a woman could ask for I still work. I am the luckiest woman I know – I have a choice. But don’t think that it still isn’t a tough decision. I still struggle with leaving my son with his caretaker, a nanny. I worry that the logistics of my job (travel and unpredictable hours) strain my family. But I know at the end of the day, I’m happier getting out of the house, going to an office and doing a job that I feel is important – helping companies improve relations with their employees. While working part-time made the decision easier, the choice to stay home and not work didn’t feel right to me. And we all know that a happy mommy helps make for a happy family. At least in my house. Now go on over to Work It, Mom! and speak your own mind!
Tags: Work It, Mom!, working moms, flexible work arrangements, mommy wars
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*applause*
Great answer. I, too, work by choice. This touches upon a pet peeve of mine – the notion of staying at home as a status symbol. As in, she married well, she doesn’t HAVE to work. I hear this from one of the working mother friends in my social circle. It bothers me on a number of different leveles. First, I mean, how uncool is it to care about status or what other people think? Second, what a strange notion that professional success some how has less luster than staying at home. Third, my professional identity is an integral part of who I am. Giving that up would be like losing a piece of myself.