A Secret to Success as a Working Mom: Use Dresses to Stay Cool and Stylish in Hot Weather

Greetings from Chaton's World in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! My days often start with laundry, early-morning emails, and making my kids a hot breakfast. They often end with late-night homework checks, making Instagram reels, and appearing on Celebrity Court of Public Opinion. Somewhere in between, I’m navigating boardrooms, working towards deadlines, and immersed in the good, bad, and ugly chaos of motherhood and household management. As a working mom of three and a professional carving out space in corporate environments, I share my journey of balancing leadership with loving my family, and I sprinkle it with self-care tips. Here, you’ll find honest reflections, hard-earned lessons, and practical strategies for creating an authentic life that you enjoy. If you’re trying to do it all without losing yourself in the process, you have found your sister in the struggle!  Continue reading to discover some thoughts, hacks, and/or lessons that I have learned from navigating my world.

A Peek Into the Life of a Working Mom: Working Mom Guilt

Toddler when working mom leaves the house

“It plagues me. I feel intensely guilty for working … You have to be able to provide for your kids. But I feel like it’s a weird modern phenomenon that you always feel guilty for it.” --
Melissa McCarthy, actress, mom to two girls under 6

Recently, a friend confessed that she has been feeling really guilty about leaving her toddler when she goes to work. He has been crying and saying, "mommy don't leave me!" Nothing tugs at the heart of a working mom like hearing her child plead for her to stay.
As the mom of a toddler I have learned that they can be unpredictable. You can be on a roll and then out of nowhere she'll be distraught when I leave for work.  Once I came home for work because I forgot something. When I left to return to work my daughter cried harder than I had ever heard. I felt terribly and wondered whether I was doing the right thing.
Last week, I read an article on “Working Moms” one of my favorite working mom blogs after my own, Chaton's World, that got me thinking and made me comment. The blog post was entitled, “Your Comeback to the Request, "Don't Go to Work, Mom!" Because being a working mom means that you leave your child in the care of someone else, guilt goes with the territory. That guilt can be powerful and overwhelming.

I don't have very good insight and don't have a textbook response. Instead, I have experience.
Below is my comment to the article…

 What you do when your child begs you not to go to work?

My daughter is 2 1/2. Her request is less about me and more about her. She often screams, "I want to go to work!!!" Sometimes I pick her up and soothe her and bribe her with a piece of toast or a cereal bar. I'm sure that bribery isn't recommended, but it's worked for us so far. I sometimes let her come outside with me. She handles it better if she also thinks she's leaving. I think she believes that "work" is as fun as the outings she goes on with her nanny. If she only knew...
Often, I just sneak out before she realizes I'm gone. She doesn't seem to mind it if she doesn't see me leave.

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Pay a visit to Chaton's World (http://chatonsworld.blogspot.com) to read about my quest for balance in my stilettos!
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