Working mothers: Do you ever just feel pressured?
Saturday, 1. May 2010
(Note: This is not a battle of the Mom’s s please let’s not turn it into one!)
I have felt such an immense amount of stress lately and I feel like it’s only gotten worse as opposed to gotten better. My husband was recently laid off but my son still remains in daycare. Main reason is that we have hopes for my husband finding a job and we’d like to have him start immediately as opposed to having to search out a new daycare and get him adjusted to it again. It’s been 3 wks and he’s had no luck. A little income here and there with side work, but still nothing steady.
My 2 yr old son has been very sick with ear infections, sinus infections and then the antibiotics he was given caused him diarrhea and caused a serious diaper rash. We have had issues at daycare with sending him home nonstop, and when I bring him back, it’s something else. This morning they gave me hell because of his diaper rash, which I have a prescription for, but had no doctor’s note. BLAH BLAH BLAH! It’s always something.
My husband screwed up his eye again and has this nasty eye infection due to sleeping in his contacts. He needs medicine but lost his insurance when he got laid off. I have no money left in my health savings because I spent $600 on his damn eye the last time a few months ago.
I feel SO much pressure because everything requires money to live. And we have nothing. I don’t qualify for WIC because I “make too much money”. I don’t qualify for any child care assistance because I “make too much money”. COBRA for my husband was too expensive and unemployment covers literally ¼ of what we’re used to making. We’ve had no cable, internet or home phone for over a year because with two incomes we couldn’t afford it. But I’m WORKING so there isn’t much more I can do other than show up for work every day and bring home that paycheck. But with work, comes the daycare and the sick child so we’re late to work, leaving work early to go check in with the doctor. Coming in late because we need a new doctor’s note. Feeling guilty because you know you’ve already been late and left early at work and you just have this constant worry.
It’s just ALWAYS something. Nevermind what my house looked like last night when I came home from work. I just want to CRY!
Do you feel pressure all the time to just be this super woman and make things happen?
In my husband’s defense, he’s been job hunting since the day he got laid off. He has side jobs here and there but as I said, it’s not steady income. He filed for unemployment but it’s a fraction of what he was used to making. He typically does help out at the house, but not always. The dishes were done but the rest of the house was a mess. He’s not a professional in having to take on this sudden SAHD role so it’ll take time for him to figure out how to balance it all. And BTW, for those of you that haven’t noticed, the economy is crap. My husband works in construction and since real estate sucks, his field sucks. I agree he can help out a bit more, but sheesh, cut the man a smidge of slack.