From the Heart

my momma’s boy

“Mom guilt” is for reals.

Friends, I’m gonna be real honest with you….lately I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching.

When I jumped headlong into the retail space, I thought it would be a stepping stone on my way to greater things within the world of “fashion.” What that would look like, I had (and still have) no idea. Perhaps working in a designer’s atelier? Or, more likely, moving into PR / marketing? After all, my background is in sales and marketing - not visual merchandising, not ticketing, not stocking POS stations with tissue paper (yes, these are all things that I do every day).

I’m not trying to complain. Most days, I love my job! I love the people I’m around, I love that we all “get” fashion and exchange compliments, I love being surrounded by pretty things, I love the energy and the vibe! But what I don’t love…..are the hours.

Here’s where the soul-searching comes in. My husband and I both work in retail, which means working late nights and weekends. The days I leave work “early” I can barely get to my son’s aftercare program before they close at 6:30. Then it’s dinner, shower, bedtime. Saturdays we have to hire someone to spend the day with our son, doing all the things we would love to do with him. Summer? Forget it - we still have no idea what we’re going to do. (And why does camp end at 3pm - who do they think can get off work by 3pm? Even the “extended” hours end at 5pm!) I could go on about how difficult our society makes things for working parents. For many families, including ours, it’s a toss-up: do we both work knowing that at least 1/3 of our income is going to childcare? Does one of us stay home and save on childcare costs - not to the mention the stress of constantly having to patch together a schedule made up of various providers?

I won’t lie - it pains me to see pictures of our babysitter picnicking with my son under the “family tree” at our favorite park, even if I do enjoy my work environment. So how do we achieve that perfect work/life balance? If you have the answer, please let me know! “Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow” (Judy Garland, “Meet me in St Louis”).