Every working parent experiences some kind of guilt. If you have young children, you might feel like you are abandoning them by going to work, or that a childcare provider will get to experience more precious moments with your child than you will. If you have school-aged children, there is a good chance that your work will cause you to miss an important event, or perhaps you won’t be able to volunteer at the school as other parents do.
If you don’t always feel guilty, you probably feel guilty about that too. I’ve determined that guilt goes hand in hand with working parenthood. That is, you will likely always feel guilty, unless you make the conscious decision not to let guilt overcome you.
And there is reason to let the guilt go. Working does not mean you do not care about your children. Your children are likely one of the reasons you want to be successful at work. Further, holding a job does not mean you do not spend time with your children. In fact, recent study by a University of Maryland researcher found that working moms today actually spend on average the same, or more time with their children than stay-at-home moms did in the 1970’s (See article here). The difference exists because the way we live has changed. We have many more shortcuts that allow us to spend more time with our children instead of doing domestic work. Further, parents now are more willing to sacrifice other things in their lives to find more time for children.
So if you are feeling guilty, take some time to seriously consider how you spend your time. If you are really unhappy with how much time you spend with your kids, then do something about it. Now is the time to change your work arrangement to meet the needs of your family and get past the guilt!
