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Mommy Guilt

Is being a mother synonymous with guilt ?

All around me, I read about & listen to women who feel guilty because they work. They struggle at work, they struggle at home; and they struggle with guilt. I'm not home when my kid comes back from school, I had to go to work when my kid had fever, I don't get to spend quality time with my kid, I have to travel without my kids, etc etc etc.

Wow, at least they have a reason to feel guilty. But what about mums like me? I don't work but I still feel guilty. I'm at home but I still feel guilty. I don't travel but I still feel guilty.

Why, you ask? Why, Am I not entitled to guilt?
I feel guilty when I deny my kids something
I feel guilty when I'm at my laptop blogging while my kids are home
I feel guilty when I actively seek time away from my kids
I feel guilty when I want to take up a job
I feel guilty when I scream at my kids
I feel guilty when I don't volunteer my time at my son's school
I feel guilty when I have to take one of my sons & leave the other behind
I feel guilty when I make palak paneer instead of macaroni soup
I feel guilty because I can't teach my sons to swim myself
I feel guilty when I shoo my kids away while talking to my friends
I feel guilty when my husband & I tiptoe out for a movie
I feel guilty because I can't take my son to see his dream - Mt Everest
I feel guilty when I don't read my sons a story before bed time because I've had enough
I feel guilty when I see my baby asking for attention while my older one talks on & on

Oh there're hundreds and thousands of ways to feel guilty. Guilt is not the right of a working mother. To me motherhood is guilt. I am convinced it is. Mums who work feel guilty; mums who stay at home feel guilty.

So stop moping, and get used to feeling guilty.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahaaa! the comment section opened today. I don't think my grandma ever felt the type of guilt you feel. She had 8 brats to bring up and there was no time to feel guilty. I think as long as she was able to clothe, feed and educate them, that was a good job. And if they wanted to Everest, she would have told them to walk it to there!:) Parenting was a different ball game then. V