Comments on: Jealousy

By: Alex Elliot

Alex Elliot — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:42:11 +0000

It took me a while to adjust too. I’m not the type of person who gets excited over new cleaning products or recipes and my husband has told me that if he ever finds cooked diced chicken in the freezer (that’s the rage with the SAHM moms I know so that they can easily add it to complicated meals) that it’s time for me to go back to work. I figure on the day that I wake up and would rather be at vet school than at home, I’ll know to start applying.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:27:08 +0000

It is really hard to leave work and stay home full time. I think it took me a year to adjust, but the mommy guilt is lifted (to some extent). I still miss work but I try and remind myself, they are only little once (cliche I know) and I can work for the next 30 years…

I also loved the Penelope Trunk article. I hope she’s right!

By: Marcie

Marcie — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:41:36 +0000

I had the opposite result from Shari: when I telecommuted, it didn’t balance my desire to be at home with my desire to work. What it did was make me crazy stressed ALL the time, because if I wasn’t doing the work, I’d think there wouldn’t ever be a next contract. And if I WAS doing the work, I was constantly having to shoo my kids away. (Unless I worked in the middle of the night, which was also bad because I like sleep.)

Anyway, in the past three weeks 1) we’ve all been sick, with husband and girls home for several days; and 2) we had sort of a forced remodel, so I’ve had contractors crawling around a big hole in my house. If I had had a work-type project to deal with during this time, I would be a dishrag at best and in the emergency room at worst.

By: Shari Schmidt

Shari Schmidt — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:56:48 +0000

You should consider freelancing. You get enough of the business world to remember why you quit, but you also get to stay at home with your family. It’s not always the best of both worlds. So far though, it has helped me balance both desires.

By: crabbymommy

crabbymommy — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:16:21 +0000

I could not relate with you more. I live all the way on the other side of the globe from you, but the issues are the same. I quit work too, and this may be a bit scary, and now I sit in my pajamas doing this and that the whole day.

It’s an effort to stay organized and get something done, something that does not involve my toddler that is.

You know what’s the scariest thing? That, though I am ok with this now, what if I wake up one day (one day far into the future) and have a aahhh-my-life-has-gone moment?

And it’s not that I hate being mommy, it’s just that I feel that the mother takes the brunt of it and it’s not fair – few companies understand that you could’ve been out of the workforce for some years and now you are back but you could still be good at your job. That’s the unfortunate part.

By: Shannanb aka Mommy Bits

Shannanb aka Mommy Bits — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:53:24 +0000

I think it is only natural to have those pangs of jealousy.

My good friend is a stay at home mother and she used to watch my boys during the day. She no longer watched them because she moved out of state but just recently we had a really good conversation where it came to light that at one point or another both of us had been jealous of the other. She had wished she could leave and go to work and I had envied her for being able to have all that time with not only her children, but mine as well.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:44:40 +0000

Yes, the grass is always greener. I admit I often have to talk myself into why work is so much better, wh
and while I love hanging with the kids, I tell myself I wouldn’t to do it all day. That may be BS,
but it gets me through the day sometimes.

By: Nataly

Nataly — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:29:10 +0000

Just so you know, when I read your previous post about having time to have breakfast with your son I felt a pang of jealousy (the very best kind:) Enjoy this, it’s so awesome that you can make this choice.

By: Amy S.

Amy S. — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:34:55 +0000

Ok, so my day began at the crack of dawn with an intense “coverage” negotiation with my husband who finally agreed to take care of our sick daughter while I went off to work for half a day. After scrambling to make myself look presentable/professional, I doled out medication, juice, ensured the little one had her “share” in her backpack and explained to her for the twentieth time why she had to go to preschool today while her older sister got to stay home (with 102 fever). Then I went to work for five hours during which people didn’t listen to me and royally pissed me off. I then literally interrupted a co-worker mid-sentence to tear out of the office so I could pick up the preschooler in time for her mid-day carpool. Now I’m home pretending to work while my kids sit hypnotized by the TV (ok, we do have a very sick kid who can’t do anything else). THIS is why you quit. Feel better?

By the way, thanks for that Penelope Trunk article. Very interesting and very helpful.

By: GHD

GHD — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:45:43 +0000

I felt that same pang this morning as I drove by an office where I used to work. My desk overlooked a canal (not as spiffy as Lake Michigan, I’m afraid) and it was my first job out of college. Remembering the way I felt going into to work everyday, I was hit with a sudden sadness… I think it’s just expected.