Guilty

Before C was born I worked a LOT. During grad school I had started working for Pier 1 and found that I really enjoyed retail. I know it sounds weird but, it was fun because you never had the same day twice. Every day was different. I was always busy. It burned a lot of calories! After 3 years of moving up from associate to assistant manager, I became a store manager with my own store. At the time it was cool because my husband was a musician and worked odd hours. It worked for us.

Retail has its down sides though. Crazy hours, working at 6am the day after Thanksgiving or staying until midnight because you have a visit the next day from the VP. Shoppers that assume you're uneducated because you work in a retail store. Shoppers that treat you like you're their servant. People that come in and seem to feel like they are entitled to something more than every one else. Or that person that wants to take their bad day out on every one else.

Despite these things I loved working in retail. I loved the visual aspects of it, moving displays and changing products for the appropriate seasons. I liked helping customers find what they were looking for and more. I even liked unloading trucks. So, when I became a stay at home mom it was a hard change.

Days began to feel like weeks when C would just sleep for hours and hours. I didn't know what to do with myself. Gradually, I adjusted and begin to love my new career as Mommy. When K came along I couldn't imagine myself working outside the home, at least until both kids were in school. Unfortunately, life doesn't always work out like we think.

When it was decided that I had to return to work part-time the first thing I thought of was retail. It's what I know and what I enjoy doing. It's also flexible with those crazy hours. I ended up getting a job at The Container Store which is not only and awesome place to shop, it's an awesome place to work.

But, I find myself feeling guilty for liking my job so much. When the ice storm hit a few weeks ago and I wasn't able to get to work for two days I found myself feeling sad that I was missing work. Some times it seems as if my job is actually a break from my life as Mom. I love C and K more than the world but, it's nice to have some time to breathe and not have a small person hanging off your leg. I know there are moms out there that feel guilty for having to work but, do they feel guilty that they like to work?