Is working-mom guilt finally going the way of the stegosaurus? A new survey of 1,000 moms from dual-career households suggests it might be! What a relief -- it looks like we're finding balance in our lives, or at least not worrying too much about that balance.
So here's the scoop from Care.com, who conducted that survey: Half of the moms said that work makes them "a good role model" for their kids. Sixty-four percent of the moms say that work doesn't interfere with good parenting. And 8 out of 10 of the moms say they enjoy being a working parent. In other words, it sounds like we actually feel more than okay about juggling work and childcare. Gotta say, just hearing this news is erasing the last traces of mommy guilt I still have. Guess why moms feel this way?
I think it may have to do with the amount of support we get at home from our guys: 77 percent of working moms say their partner participates in child-rearing, and 69 percent say their partner supports their career goals. More and more dads are doing their share at home. What a difference that makes.
Witness! I wouldn't feel nearly as confident about juggling work and parenting if it weren't for my husband. He has the more flexible career, so he's the one who handles school drop-off and pick-up and cooks dinner most weeknights. Plus, he thinks what I do for a living is pretty damn cool -- and tells me so often. And he thinks I'm pretty. But that's irrelevant to this story here.
This doesn't make him special -- I mean, yes, it does make him special to me -- but this is the way many other dads my age behave. In dual-career households, I see dads trading off home responsibilities with moms like it ain't no big thing. I think it's pretty clear: Working-mom guilt dies when dads do their share at home. Period.
Now, when we start hearing dads expressing "working-dad guilt" more often, then we'll really know we've made progress!
Do you have working-mom guilt?
Image via Fil.Al/Flickr