Guest Post: Britton from Olson's Travels

I am currently away on my two-weeks of work travel. I've left San Francisco and have arrived in New Orleans where we are now exhibiting at the worlds largest healthcare conference. It's the 2nd biggest show we attend and it's the culmination of months of planning and work.

One of the best parts of the blogging community is meeting new "friends". I met Brittan when we moved to Seattle and it's so fun to know another momma in the Pacific Northwest. She has an adorable little man and shares her stories over at Olson's Travels.

Hi, I’m Brittin. Amanda asked me to do a guest post while she is out of town, so here I am! She left the topic up to me, so I figured since she is out of town on business what better thing to write about than being a working mom.

I am a working mom, but this is not where I ever planned to be. Growing up whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my reply was always a stay at home mom. My mom and most of the women in my family have always been housewives, so it stood to reason that I would be too. Right? Well apparently things are a little different in the 21^st century. Most families need to incomes just to stay afloat.

Ok, so jump forward a few years, I am all grown up and married. My husband had 2 children prior, and we figured we could just live foot loose and fancy free, have the kids on the weekends to do fun stuff but not have all the responsibilities that came with being a full time parent. Chris and I had been married almost 4 years when we found out I was pregnant. To say that it was a shock would an understatement. I had been fine working up until this point. We had always talked about quitting work and being a housewife someday when we could afford it. Well now we were pregnant and we still couldn’t afford to have me stay home.

This broke my heart (still does a little) this was not the dream I had pictured as a little kid. How was I ever going to make this work? How could I ever balance being a wife, mom, and an employee? So I just kind of blocked it all out. In fact I still do. Hayes is 14 months old, and I just don’t think about it. I go to work each day without thinking about it. It is what I have to do. Some days it is almost a break to go to work and just do my job, then other days it kills me to leave him.

I am so lucky that he is at my mom’s house during the day. My only fear is that he will like my mom more, because he spends more time with her, he will bond more with her. I think he knows that I am his mama, but what is that to a 14 month old? Just a name? Or does he understand? Who knows. I know someday he will know that I am his mama, and what that means.

Wow I just realized that this post took kind of a depressing turn! I was not trying to come off as a pity party. So in closing being a working mom is tough! Yet it is so rewarding when you come home and your kids are so excited to see you. I think I would miss that being a stay at home mom. It seems like when you are with your kid 24/7 there is not a chance to miss each other. No chance for them to be excited to see you. I don’t, but I do know I am trying to make the most of this working mom thing. Will I still be a working mom in 10 years? I hope not, but if I am, I am sure that I will still be making it work one day at a time.

Hang in there Amanda! There are so many of us working moms you are not alone.