{"id":5777,"date":"2014-02-11T18:51:51","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T10:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/?p=5777"},"modified":"2014-02-11T18:51:51","modified_gmt":"2014-02-11T10:51:51","slug":"a-letter-from-a-working-mother-to-a-stay-at-home-mother-and-vice-versa-the-healthy-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/2014\/02\/11\/a-letter-from-a-working-mother-to-a-stay-at-home-mother-and-vice-versa-the-healthy-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter from a Working Mother to a Stay-At-Home Mother, and vice versa | the healthy doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Working Mum
\nI know you sometimes get judged by others for leaving your children in the care of others to work. Some people imply that you don\u2019t love your children as much as us SAHMs do, and that it\u2019s best for children to be at home with their mothers.
\nHow can they say this about you? I know you love your children just as much as any other mother. I know that going back to work was no easy decision. You weighed up the pros and cons, long before you conceived a baby. It has always been one of the most important decisions of your life. You thought about this even while you were in high school and were choosing subjects for Grade 11.
\nI see you everywhere. You are the doctor I take my children to when they are sick. You\u2019re my child\u2019s allergist, the one who diagnosed her peanut allergy. You\u2019re the physiotherapist who treated my husband\u2019s back. You\u2019re the accountant who does our tax returns. My son\u2019s primary school teacher. The director of our childcare centre. My daughter\u2019s gymnastics teacher. The real estate agent who sold our house. What sort of world would it be if you hadn\u2019t been there for us? If you had succumbed to the pressures of those who insisted a mother\u2019s place had to be in the home?
\nI know you weigh up every job to see if it will suit your family. I know you wake up an hour before everyone else does, just so you can get some exercise done or some quiet time. I know that you have attended meetings after being up all night with your toddler. I know that when you come home in the evening, your \u201csecond shift\u201d begins. The nay-sayers don\u2019t understand that you run a household AND hold a job. You come home, cook dinner, bath your children and read them stories. You tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. You pay the bills, do the grocery shopping, the laundry, the dishes, just like every other mother does.
\nI know that you often feel guilty about having any more time away from your children so you sacrifice your leisure time. I know you can\u2019t bring yourself to take a \u201cday off\u201d for yourself when your children are at daycare. I know you accept that work is your \u201ctime off\u201d for now. I know that when you are at work you don\u2019t waste a single minute. I know you eat your lunch at your desk, you don\u2019t go out for coffee, and you show complete dedication and concentration to your job. You chose to be there after all. You want to be there.
\nI know how discerning you are about who is looking after your children, and that many long daycare centres offer excellent care. I know you only leave your children in a place where you confident they are loved and well looked after. I know that you spend many days caring for your children at home when they are sick, and sacrifice your pay. I know that you secretly enjoy these days, and revel in being able to be with your children.
\nI know that sometimes you feel guilty about not being there all the time. But WM, I know this. You are setting a wonderful example to your children. You are showing them that a woman can have a career, contribute in some way outside the home, and still be a loving mother. You are showing your daughters that they can do anything they want to do in life. You are displaying strength, endurance, dedication, tenacity, and you do it with so much joy and love.
\nI just wanted you to know I understand. Because we\u2019re both mothers.
\nLove from the trenches
\nStay-At-Home Mum
\nvia A Letter from a Working Mother to a Stay-At-Home Mother, and vice versa | the healthy doctor<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Working Mum I know you sometimes get judged by others for leaving your children in the care of others to work. Some people imply that you don\u2019t love your children as much as us SAHMs do, and that it\u2019s best for children to be at home with their mothers. How can they say this … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Letter from a Working Mother to a Stay-At-Home Mother, and vice versa | the healthy doctor”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reposts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}