Top 10 Things I Feel Guilty About
10) I feel guilty that I don’t iron. At all. Anything. I HATE to iron. I’d rather have wrinkled clothes than iron. I’d rather pay to have my entire wardrobe dry cleaned than iron. I used to iron Mr. RC’s uniforms, but when I went back to work, I told him I was done. We both work. If he wants his uniform free of wrinkles, it’s up to him. And Downy Wrinkle Releaser.
9) I feel guilty that I’m a terrible housekeeper and that I’m considering dishing out a portion of my paycheck to hire a housekeeper. I don’t mind grocery shopping, cooking, washing and folding laundry, cleaning up dog poop, taking out the trash, or washing dishes. But dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and oh gross, cleaning in and around toilets, not my thing.
8) I feel guilty for allowing my daughter to watch television shows that are probably inappropriate for her. When Big C was younger, I was VERY strict about his television viewing. But he didn’t have an older sibling watching shows for older children like Little C does. During the week, my kids watch 2 DVR’ed shows per day, that’s it. One show is Big C’s choice, the other is Little C’s choice. What am I supposed to do, make Little C go to her room while Big C watches Star Wars? Good luck with that.
(One of my kindergarten students exacerbated my guilt the other day when I asked her if she wanted a SpongeBob sticker. “My mom doesn’t let me watch SpongeBob,” replied the 6-year-old. I chose not to tell her that SpongeBob is my 4-year-old’s favorite show.)
7) I feel guilty for not forcing my children to eat healthier. Well, I mainly mean my 7-year-old son. (I don’t really have to worry about my daughter. Her favorite foods are broccoli, salmon, and avocados.). My son? I can’t remember the last time he ate a green vegetable.
6) I feel guilty for leaving my 9 month old black lab puppy in the crate all day. We purposely bought a puppy over the summer so I would be home with him. But after a summer of puppy spoiling, I cringe whenever I think of him being cooped up in that box until I get home from work. I keep trying to explain to him that if he would just stop chewing everything in sight, he wouldn’t have to go in the crate, but he’s not really getting it.
5) I feel guilty for taking super long showers. I’d like to say the guilt is over wasting water or scorching my skin, but it’s not. My guilt is over the fact that my showers are long simply because sometimes that’s the only alone time I get all day.
4) I feel guilty for the hours I spend working out. I know that working out improves my health (and my sanity), but I feel like it takes away from time I could be spending with my family or doing chores around the house. I feel guilty for taking that time to nurture myself.
3) I feel guilty for putting my children to bed early when I’m tired.
2) I feel guilty for being a working mom. When I get home from work, I need down time, but I also know I have very limited quality time with my kids in between homework, cooking dinner, and going to the gym (see #4). By the end of my work day, I sometimes feel I have nothing left to give and my patience is nonexistent. I often worry about how my status as a working mom affects my kids, especially my son, who had me as a full time mom for most of his life. And the “Mommy, why can’t you come on my field trip?” makes me want to cry.
1) I feel guilty that I spend more time with other people’s children than I do with my own. I often wonder if I know my students better than their own parents do. Which makes me wonder if my children’s teachers know them better than I do.
Now that I got that off my chest…what are you feeling guilty about these days?
Sigh…so many of those sound familiar. Especially the ones about working and not spending enough time with my own kids. Many nights end with me feeling awful that I spent the little time we had together doing laundry or cleaning the kitchen instead of reading stories or playing with my kids.
Lately, my guilty had been that I grumble every time I see dirty laundry that my husband left NEXT to the hamper or dirty dishes ABOVE the empty dishwasher and then I snap at him. Really I should take those small annoyances as a reminder that he is home safe with us again, but instead I just want to scream in frustration! Guilty…
I'm glad you shared some of these because I thought I was the only one feeling some of your guilts! These days… I would say I am guilty for not cooking more often. We have all these groceries in the cupboard and fridge, but I am always ordering take-out because I am too darn lazy to cook! =X
I think all working moms are on the same boat that you are. I've been blessed to be able to stay at home with my son for the past 7 months but I'm going back to school in the fall and I'm worried that I won't get to spend much time with him. Don't feel guilty about it… I think our children will understand when they are older and we have the time and money to buy them the things that they want! š
I feel guilty for not liking my husband's mother. Recently she has proven to me how selfish she is…and even went as far to inappropriately attack my marriage and my parenting skills. Even though I know that I am a Great mother and wife, it still hurts. So, yes, I feel guilty that i don't like her very much at all anymore.
Having been in the same predicament as you are now, I received some comfort during those times from the wisdom of William Shakespeare:
"So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt."
When you look at guilt that way, it gives you a "pass".
Hang in there!
Oh the black lab puppy stories! Ours was a handful until she was two. Chewing on anything because that's what they do. We went through a lot of rawhides; she even chewed an antique solid wood door. It was a mess..they do calm down, thogh.