I bought my first Parents magazine at the airport for my trip to Florida. Best $3.99 I ever spent! The issue had a feature on the best parenting blogs. I decided to check-out a few and fell instantly and insanely in love with http://www.mom-101.com/ written by Liz Gumbinner. I desperately want to invite her over for coffee (too bad she lives in New York) and talk, talk, talk about anything and everything. She's funny and honest and I find her posts making me feel a lot less alone and a lot more validated.
Her posts on working moms are especially meaningful to me right now at a time when I doubt my ability to be a good mom, wife, friend and employee. One that really hit home was "Grass: Greener." that plays out a kind of face-off of thoughts between a working mom and a stay-at-home mom. It's not that she gave me any groundbreaking insight into the trials and tribulations or the joys and celebrations that come with each lifestyle, but it was a reminder that there is no perfect situation...except maybe to be extremely wealthy, so you can stay at home, but afford daycare a few times a week to pursue interests or pampering (or, hell, just five minutes of quiet "me" time) outside the home. I don't see this situation applying to my life anytime soon, but I do have a lottery ticket purchased for tonight's drawing. (A girl can still hope!)
All I know is Mark and I are doing what is best for our family at this point in time. Some days it feels great and some days it feels shitty. I just need to keep focusing on the great and remember the next time I'm eating a peaceful lunch at my desk, poring over online pictures of Lainey and pining to have her in my arms, another mother is facing her screaming child and cleaning purreed squash off her arms and wishing she were in my shoes.
Well look at that, Kylie! You send up a bat signal into the air...and I see it from my secret Gotham hideaway.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredibly kind post, thank you so much. I'm thrilled to have you as a new reader--we working mamas need to stick together. Hang in there; it gets better, promise.
And congrats on that beautiful baby of yours.
Liz
Wow! A little star struck to be honest! Thanks for the comment.
DeleteAs mom101's mom, I couldn't agree more with your post, Kylie. I love Liz, too. Even as a kids she was always smart and funny and thoughtful and kinder than kind. Sometimes I didn't know who the mother was and who the child was! I just finished reading Paris Was Ours, a book of 31 essays about-duh-reminiscences of of living in Paris. Judith Warner wrote an amazing piece about American mothers and French mothers. The later have no guilt, none, because child care is so good, because mothers work shorter hours, because the French know how to love their vacations. French mothers have no idea what makes us tick. Or why. I say: Good on ya. Keep up your own blogging and check in on mom101. I'll be there, too.
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