The life of working moms is not easy because managing the professional life stress and motherhood is a little tricky. To make things worse, companies only give 12 weeks of maternity leave. Even though women are not physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to work full time, they have to do it for their families.
Rachael Larsen, who’s a director of product operations at a Salt Lake City education company, has also gone through this similar thing. And it took her 4 years to tell her story to the world. “The shame around raising a family and working full-time is real,” and added that no matter the circumstances, “she wasn’t ready.”
She posted a picture of her looking heartbroken. Alongside it, her post reads in detail. It took me four years to have the courage to share this photo. Even now, it’s hard to look at. The shame around raising a family and working full-time is real. I took this on my first day back to work after my second daughter was born. I wasn’t ready. My daughter wasn’t ready. She wasn’t sleeping and was extremely fussy. I woke up five times the night before to feed her. I was exhausted. As a majority income source for our family, I was forced to suck it up, put on a smile, and get back to work. I know that I am extremely privileged. I was able to have some partial pay during my maternity leave and I was able to take 12 weeks off. I had a job that I loved at an amazing company with great bosses. I had a daycare facility that I could afford with great teachers I trusted. But… I was not ready. We need to do more to support parents and families. It may have taken me four years after I knew I’d never have another baby to share this photo. But, I’m glad that I have the courage to speak my truth now.
She later added: Edit: THANK YOU for all the kind words and support. I am overwhelmed by your compassion. I’m trying to reply to all of the comments but the feed keeps throwing errors. Please share this same support to any new parents you encounter.
” I’m fine with helping people, but only the right people.” That should help answer the question of why we’re so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to taking care of our citizens. Tony Mechling added: Maternity leave is awful in America. Yet other industrialized countries have figured out how to pay workers a livable wage and give them time with their kids. All the older generation asks what’s wrong with the kids now. Maybe ripping them away from their parents and putting a minimum wage worker in charge of them at day care, isn’t a great idea.
