Before becoming a mom, I was completely self-sufficient.
Pending the arrival of our son, it was decided between B and I that I would stay home with him for 6 to 8 weeks and then begin looking for work. (I had lost my previous job. I was a waitress, we come and go.) That particular decision was lost somewhere during those first 6 weeks, maybe because of the lack of jobs & the economy, maybe because of my anxiety about finding a sitter, maybe because of a conversation I had with my neighbor about children becoming sociopaths since they are carted off to daycare from 6 weeks of age. Whatever the cause, the outcome is quite apparent. Here I sit, approaching 6 months post-partum, wishing like hell that I did, in fact, have a job; that I wasn't here, blogging in the early afternoon.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love spending the day with my baby. Obviously I don't think there is anyone who could do it better than me. But naturally, as an adult, and especially an adult in a relationship, I would like to be able to carry my own weight. B and I have a very strong relationship. He doesn't hold it over my head that he is the breadwinner and that I simply...run the household, raise his child, you know, helpful things like that.. These things, I know are invaluable to our lives as a family, but I still find that I'm having an issue with my own self-worth. I can't help but wonder if all stay-at-home moms feel the same way from time to time.
I feel insecure and apprehensive about my future. I want to become something other than a mom. It's alien to me to be saying that because originally, all I ever wanted to be was a mother to someone. But as I get older, I feel it's only natural to want more for myself. Unlike many other SAHMs, I didn't have a career prior to becoming a parent. I was still attending college. I was waiting tables for God's sake. I was lucky to find a man who does have the means to support us on his own. We aren't struggling by any means, so why is it that I want so desperately to leave my household duties behind?
It all boils down to the simple fact that I am a human being. Naturally, "good enough" will never, in fact, be good enough for me. I am never content for long. Insatiable, I believe is the precise term.