[Editor's Note: I have had multiple discussions with some of my friends about "wasted degrees" and being "just a mom" and not "contributing to the household" over the past few months. It's a hard thing to come to terms with, to make sense of at times. Brittany Ann at Living in the Moment recently shared her journey through working and motherhood, with a few military wrenches thrown in for good fun. It was interesting to read through her process to get to where she is today. How do you handle the "just a mom" feeling? -Jenna]
A Lost Identity:
I've never done this before. I've never not worked. It's unnerving, not to answer to anyone all day but myself.
I worry what it looks like. I feel like it makes me seem lazy. I think back to grad school and wonder if my professors would be disappointed in me. I worry that I'm simply "just a mom" and will never get back to all those things I was so good at.
All those things that made me, well, me.
It's a little bit like I've lost my identity.
One of my friend's mom's used to tell me, "Women can have it all. They just can't have it all, all at once."
And, for me, that rings true.
Right now, I can't be wife, mother, and employee.
Photo Credit: angelocesare.