Mommy guilt. It’s hard to avoid this feeling – because, well, you love your child – but sometimes you just need a break. And a glass of wine.
As a single mom, sometimes people say to me “You must be tired!” And despite the fact that I was raised to be polite and respectful, my mind can’t help but go to a place that says “Seriously? The function I typically operate on is more like ‘completely exhausted’ – but I have no other choice.”
Despite the trials and tribulations of motherhood, I thought before I went back to work that I was going to sob into a severely damp tissue every morning after having to leave my child behind. Don’t get me wrong – I do miss my son, but sometimes I find solace in walking out of the door at daycare knowing that someone else has to do everything for a few hours – especially dealing with his occasional meltdowns.
Case in point: my son has been eating a solid meal each night for 3 months now. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware you should start on vegetables first and then move to fruit, so he’s completely hooked on the sweet stuff. I decided I would take a stand and try to get him to eat the veggies. (Though I’m still debating whether or not my sanity is worth that decision.)
My baby – my adorable, sweet little child — proceeded to throw things at me, spit his food out, scream, cry and pretend to choke. In my ‘completely exhausted’ state, I sat through it all and allowed him to have his fit before calmly telling him to stop. I proceeded to feed him the rest of the food and put him to bed.
I felt defeated. When I poured my glass of wine — no, I wasn’t kidding about that — I climbed in bed, gulped it down (in the dark), and passed out immediately after.
Catherine is the Social Media Marketing Assistant for Vitacost.com. She enjoys buying Gerber baby food (especially veggies) at our great prices – and when it comes to getting Gerber baby food stains out of her clothes, she turns to Free and Clear Earth Friendly Ultra Ecos Laundry Detergent.