It was the beginning of 2021. My husband and I had just survived a year of parenting a three-year-old through 2020. I was wholly and completely burned out as a full-time working mom. and while the Covid-19 Pandemic was raging outside I was raging inside. My main realization from that time was poetic but nevertheless true – it sucks being a working mom in the US.
This made me wonder – what makes our journey so uniquely hard here in the US?
Looking back to that time, these are the 3 unique reasons we’re struggling:
Reason#1: US employers often confuses SelfCare with recovery
During the pandemic, our generous employers urged us to take care of ourselves and ask for the things we needed. We were encouraged to take our vacation and sick days and practice SelfCare.
Instead, I counted my vacation days and used none. I hoarded my sick days and powered through each week.
In reality, what my employer was offering was SelfCare but what I really needed? Time to recover from Pandemic-based motherhood.
Reason#2: Recharging is for electronics, not mothers
In our pre-pandemic life, I trusted that healthy food, regular exercise, and enough sleep would give me the energy I needed to work hard, raise a family, and enjoy my life.
The honest truth? American moms didn’t need more energy to “have it all” or the power to push through a pandemic. What working moms like myself needed was to press the shutoff button and power down.
So I did what so many other moms couldn’t afford to do – I quit my job and joined the ranks of the Great Resignation.
Next, I did the unthinkable: I powered down, retreated, and…did nothing.
Reason#3: It’s hard to build a village without a village
We know it, we need it, but we are often too tired to build it. Yes, I’m talking about the ever-elusive mom village.
As a working mom, I would skim the emails regarding Meal Trains, toy swaps, and school fundraisers. I wanted to help but was too tapped out to lean into the needs of others. I was also overwhelmed by my own need and too busy surviving the day-to-day to reach out.
To make matters worse, in came the Pandemic, and out went the little help and support systems we did have in place. How were we to build a new mom village without the support of an existing one? It seems that I had to either live without it or build it myself.
As 2021 came to an end and 2022 began, I recovered, powdered back up, and went about building my village. In the process, I researched, experimented, and wrote about this journey, here. It was my way to lighten the load of motherhood for myself and others.
Welcome to MakeTimeForMom.
Ready to find more time and start building your village today? Visit Busy Mothers Can Find More Time In These Unexpected Places
A few weeks later I was ready for a new start. I was hungry for change, exploration, and most of all – for community. I went in search of my fellow moms, hoping to create my village.