To The Part-Time Working/Full-Time Stay at Home Parent… I See You!

Whenever I meet someone new and we start talking about life, a common question comes up:

“Do you stay home?”

I have a bit of an identity crisis when this question comes up. You see, the answer is “Yes” and “No.”

Many parents fall into this category where we are the primary person who stays at home with the kids but have part-time jobs. Some of us choose to do part-time work to decrease childcare cost. While others do it to have extra cash flow. Many choose to be part-time to keep one foot in the door to maintain benefits.  A good majority work part-time to keep credentials current with the plan of full-time work once the kids are grown. 

Whatever the many reasons may be, there are a lot of us out there doing the part-time job and primary stay-at-home parenting gig. 

I stay at home Monday-Friday but I work as a nurse outside the home on weekends. I recently took over Columbus Moms Blog Instagram account for the day. I posted a photo of myself drinking coffee and introduced myself as a stay-at-home mom who works on the weekends. On that post, a fellow blogger commented: “I didn’t know you worked as a nurse on the weekends, no wonder you need coffee, you never get a day off.”

Her post brought such a smile to my face. 

Why? Because it was the first time that someone has acknowledged how tiring it is to do both. She realized how hard it is to be the primary home parent and still wear the hat of an employee. 

Her comment spoke to me, what it said to me was: “I see you.”

So to the part-time working/full-time stay-at-home parent.

I see you. 

To my friends who work weekends, nightshifts, odd hours and hustle the parenting job at home… 

I see you.

To those who are trying to maintain credentials, finish online trainings, respond to emails, texts, participate in conference calls, all while having children running around you… 

I see you.

To parents squeezing in whatever work you can get done while the littles nap or attend preschool for 2.5 hours. 

I see you.

To those who have to go into work to attend a training or meeting and you don’t have a full-time babysitter…

I see you.

To the outside world you “only work part-time.” However, what they don’t understand is that you are still full-time in regards to being a good employee. You too are still required to keep up with all the responsibility (emails, meetings, trainings, certifications… all of it) of being an employee. It is hard to maintain all of it while working part-time hours and being the primary childcare provider for the kids.

In the end, what I want to say is that to my part-time working friends is this:

A lot of the time our part-time working status gets set aside by society. You don’t see may support networks, social media groups, articles, or overall cheerleaders, for the part-time working mom. Why? Because in people’s minds “you only work half the hours.”

Well, parents who do it… we all know the truth. So cheers to all my friends who are in this phase of life. Cheers to you for keeping one foot in the career field while being a boss mom at home. I know the struggle and I know the rewards.

So this post is for you

I see you.