Brace Yourselves—Working Mom Guilt Season Is Upon Us

Summer is oh so bittersweet. On the one hand, the longer days and rising temperatures are a warm welcome after a bleak winter, but it also means your kiddo will be cooped up inside or at camp until the clock strikes five. Welcome to working mom guilt season!

Megan Brammeier, of the blog pleasebringcoffee.com, really hits the nail on the head when she discusses the conflicting emotions coursing through every working moms’ head during their kids’ summer vacation.

“We have been scrambling to find childcare coverage for the summer months, and overpaying for summer camps that look really fun to compensate for the guilt of not giving our kids a break for the summer,” she says in a recent post.

There’s no getting around it—working in the summer when your kids are home is tough. And it’s not just about the financial aspect of it. Even if you love your job, there’s still a part of you that would do anything to spend some of those carefree weeks at home with your children. “The daily grind to get up, ready and out the door is a 12-month marathon over here, and the faint tune of the ice cream truck on a Tuesday afternoon is all the gut-punch it takes to make my eyes swell with tears,” Brammeier admits.

The mom can’t help but think back to her most cherished childhood days, many of which came from the freedom of summer. “Because my mom stayed home most of my childhood, I remember lazy mornings being able to bum around, and roaming the neighborhood until the street lights came on,” she recalls. “There was a certain carefreeness that came along with the extra hours of sunshine, calming chirp of grasshoppers and glow of lightning bugs that I long for my kids to experience.”

Rest assured knowing whether you’re a working or stay-at-home mom, feeling guilty is a basic part of parenting. Brammeier’s kids may be making different memories than the ones she has from childhood summers, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t just as incredible. If nothing else, it makes family time on the weekends all the more sweeter.

When all else fails, breathe, relax and remember Brammeier’s motto: “I wish you weeknights on the driveway, weekends at the pool and a margarita with your name on it every Friday at 5.”