Working Mother

I initially went back to work when my baby was exactly 6 weeks old. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I felt so guilty. However, with bringing in half of my family's income, I really had no choice. When he was about 3 months old, we were moved, so I had to leave my job. I ended up being at home with my son from that time until recently, when he was about 9 months old. We finally moved to where I could get my job back, so now I'm back at work. Again, I feel guilty leaving him with someone else for 9 hours a day. All working mothers feel guilty to some extent. However, I started reading research articles about working mothers vs non working mothers and the development of their children. It has been found in every study there has been on the matter, that there is no developmental issue (psychologically, mentally, physically) in the children. When I have a long day and would rather be with my son, I just read these articles. No only that, but it was found that working mothers simply spent less time on things such as cleaning the house and self satisfication activities, not on care of their child. In the study, the average mother spent 8 hours per day away from their child, but only 2 hours less per day on time with their child. Just because a mother is at home does not mean that she is spending time with her child. She could be cooking, cleaning, running errands, or I don't know... sitting on the couch watching movies or sleeping. This knowledge should make all those mothers out there feel a little better if you have to leave your child during the day. It has no effect on the emotional security of the child or the attachment of the child to the mother. It's more about quality than quantity. Those mothers who are higher educated and who work in professional/administrative fields (which is me) are MORE attentive to their children and more sensitive to their needs. I happen to be the mother who, when I'm at home with my child, I am WITH my child. Moral of the story - it doesn't matter your situation as long as you love your child and show him or her that in some way.