Are you trying to figure out what working mothers want? Are you a working mother trying to figure out what you need in order to rock being a working mother?
Have you seen the movies, What Women Want or What Men Want? I love both movies because it shows the glamorous side of the advertising industry. My undergrad degree is in advertising and I thought that was the life I wanted as a young college girl.
In both movies, the star of the show gets the ability to hear the inner thoughts of the opposite sex. In What Women Want Mel Gibson acquires the ability to hear what women are thinking and in What Men Want, Taraji P. Henson gets the ability to hear the inner thoughts of men. Both use their newfound ability to help them with their advertising career goals.
What would you hear if you got the ability to hear the inner thoughts of working mothers? And how would you use that information?
I’m sharing what I have learned in the last 10 years of being a working mom and three years of working with and supporting working moms.
Mama, my hope is that this will help you figure out what you need to help you rock being a working mom. As well as enlighten everyone else on how they can support working mothers. Because we need support!
What Do You Need To Rock Being A Working Mom?
Last Mother’s Day I kept thinking about what I and other working moms want the most. Forget want. Let’s talk about what working mothers really need!
As I look back at my journey as a working mother, I don’t think I gave much thought to what I needed to be successful as a working mother. Have you thought about what you need to be a successful working mother? At home and at work?
As a new working mother, I jumped in head first taking on all the things! I often wondered “how the heck working mothers did this?” because I was struggling.
According to an article on cnbc.com, they were 9.8 million working mothers suffering from burnout in the U.S. in December 2020. As summer break comes to an end and we get ready to return to an uncertain school year I’m worried. I’m worried for myself and my fellow working mothers.
Many working mothers are still feeling and dealing with the effects of the pandemic. The pandemic brought on additional stress for working mothers as they tried to do it all. At work and home along with the additional stress caused by the effects of the pandemic.
However, working mothers were overwhelmed and burned out long before the pandemic. The pandemic magnified the challenges and struggles working women with young children face.
This is my perspective of What Working Mothers Want and Need. I hope it gives you the ability to hear the inner thoughts – if you will, of working mothers.
WHAT WORKING MOTHERS WANT AND NEED
Working mothers want to be seen and heard not just one day out of the 365 days of the year. We want to be really seen and heard as we work to be successful at home and work. You may not understand our needs as you’ve never walked in our shoes, however, you can help us to be the best working moms we can be.
Why?
When you support a working mother, you’re not just supporting that woman. You’re supporting her children who are our future leaders.
What?
Working mothers need support, understanding, and empathy at home, work, and from society. We’re not looking for pity, we’re looking for empathy.
The Challenge?
It takes a village to raise a child, however, many working mothers feel compelled to do it all themselves.
For Real?
Yes! Because there is little or no support system for working mothers. At Home. At Work, or From Society.
Working mothers want to be successful at home and work. So they do what they need to do in order to show up for everyone at home and work. Often pouring into everyone from an empty cup.
Forty-three percent (43%) of new working mothers were leaving the workplace within their first year of being a mom before the pandemic, according to a study done by Maven and Great Place to Work.
The Problem?
- Our workforce is losing amazing talent, skills, and experience.
- Working mothers feel they need to do it all at home and work in order to be successful working mothers. And they’re burned out. Frustrated. And Overwhelmed.
- Working mothers feel forced to choose between their career and their families.
- Women are suffering in silence.
Opportunities?
- Open your eyes, ears, and hearts to the needs of working mothers.
- We want to be seen and heard. There is no one size fits all solution or answer that will fit every working mother. However, when you open your eyes, ears, and heart to the working mothers in your life you will find out how you can support their needs.
Working Mothers Are Superwomen, But HUMAN
“I may act like superwoman, but I’m human!” I blurted this out to my husband a few months ago. I was so tired and needed help.
Look, mothers are amazing! I had no idea how amazing mothers are until I became a mother and saw the world through the lens of a mother. Add working and being a mom in a culture and society with little to no support for working mothers and you see that Working Mothers Are SuperWomen! But, we’re Human!
Message To Future & Current Working Moms
- Mama, you can absolutely have a career and be a great mother!
- You can have a family and a career you love!
- You can have it “ALL”, however, you do NOT have to DO it ALL!
- Take some time to figure out what your “all” is in this season of your life.
- Yes, you’re a superwoman, but you’re human.
- You’re a Rockstar Working Mom!
Make and take time to think about what you want and need to create the working mom life you love and need. Your ideal working mom life.
Message to Employers, Husband, Partners & Society
First, employers, husbands, partners – everyone! You need to do better! We need to do better.
Husbands and Partners of Working Mothers
You can’t expect women to grow babies in our bodies where things get twisted as shit, then push them out through our vaginas, or get them cut out of us…then figure out how to care for the baby, you, work, have sex with you, keep the house clean and do all the effing things! Without your support.
Bonus moms, stepmoms, and caregivers this is on your behalf as well. I had to add the vagina and c-section to help emphasize my point.
Yes, we’re Rockstars, we act like superwomen, but we are HUMAN!
We need your support and compassion. I want to add some expletives here. Imagine them. Go look up some Jamaican expletives too. Do better! Check-in with your heart.
Being a mom is hard. It breaks my heart each time I hear the unimaginable ordeals mothers have to put up with. Adding work to the mix adds many more layers of hardship to the equation.
Employers and Colleagues of Working Mothers
Too many talented women have been backed into a corner and feel like they need to choose. We’re losing amazing talent as women feel they have to choose between work and their families.
We need your support.
Employers, you need to be more sensitive, aware, and supportive of working mothers.
You all came from a woman’s womb too! Right? Why aren’t you more supportive of working mothers?
Mothers are the hardest working people you will ever find. Do try to meet them where they are. Support them as they try to figure out how to breastfeed, eat lunch, work, make all the meetings and handle drop off and pick up while fighting the limiting beliefs that she’s not able to perform at the level she did before becoming a mother.
Come on now! We’re already fighting much as women in the workplace. Wake up!
I’m asking you to open your eyes, ears, and your hearts to working mothers and show them, show us some compassion.
You do not need to understand all our complicated shit to support us. Just support us because we’re raising the future leaders of our world. Plus we have talent, skills, and experience that the world needs.
Do better!
Working Mothers Want and Need Your Support
Working mothers were tired, burned out, and overwhelmed before the global pandemic. Above you read that 9.8 million working mothers were suffering from burnout at the end of 2020. We’re more than halfway through 2021. You can help make that number decrease at the end of the year.
My fellow working moms! You’re amazing! Thank you for all that you do! I SEE YOU, MAMA! I SEE YOU! I am You! Know that you can have it ALL, whatever your all is, but you DO NOT need to do it all to have it all. You need support. You need help. Let’s work to do better asking for and getting help.
With support, understanding, and empathy working mothers can create the working mom life they want and need.
Working mama, I hope this article helps you figure out what you want and need in order to be successful at home and work to help you ROCK being a working mom.
Husbands, partners, employers – everyone, I hope this article helps you understand that you’re needed. Working mothers need your support.
Together you can help working mothers get what they want and need to be successful at home and work.
You got this!
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