On Mommy Guilt...

(Mari and her eleven, yes, eleven, American Girl Dolls)

The past couple of weeks have been great in terms of business: we have added on new distributors, gotten well into fourth quarter planning, and I have been able to knock a few nagging to-dos off my list (create a youTube page for the keyboard(http://www.youtube.com/user/targetedtech), etc). In the midst of working (constantly- yes, I know, I lost the off button), my five year old daughter finished her last week of preschool/kindergarten and "graduated" today. She has been in a Waldorf program since she was two, and for those of you familiar with the philosophy, you know that there is no "graduation" in the traditional sense, but my daughter participated in a special puppet play with the older students. In true "Elizabeth" fashion (as you will get to know), I do things in excess- or "Big", as my peeps would call it: so you know I had to have a graduation party. I planned a big day last weekend- my entire family (mom, sisters, brother, daughter and one of my daughter's best friends) went to go see the movie "Up" (which was WONDERFUL), then we met additional family members at my home for a catered dinner, cake and presents. It was a great day. An expensive day. And likely an uneccessary day.

Marianna (said daughter) would have been equally as delighted spending a few hours doing a puzzle, having pancakes for dinner, and watching Spongebob. So. The question I must ask myself is why, when I have SO much going on and not SO much dinero, do I add things like this to my plate. Simple answer= mommy guilt= overcompensating (usu. in the form of gifts) for our kids when we feel like we dont pay them as much attention as we'd like.

Yes, I am proud of my daughter. It is my daily goal to make her happy. But when I am constantly pulled away by and for work- especially compounded by the fact that I work from home- I admit that I do extra things to supplement for my absence. Sometimes I wonder, if I'd rather work a regular 9-5- at least I'd come home and for the most part, be present. I work so hard to be able to "be here" that the sad irony is that, though I am home, I'm not present as much as I'd like to be. So much for WAHM.

I started this company for my daughter. When we went to buy age appropriate technology tools for her all I saw was plastic and dot matrix and NOTHING that would work with our home computer and help enhance her experience with technology. So I created it- the myPC Stage I Keyboard was born (and the Stage II, III and more!). To this day, she will point at pictures of the MyPC Stage I Keyboard and say- "that's my computer!". There is no better feeling in the world than knowing that I accomplished this- for myself, for Mari, and for all the other toddlers and kids that use the product. I have been afforded the opportunity to be around to drop my daughter off at school and pick her up in the afternoon, to spend at least ONE day a week when I try not to work at all and just focus on her. My reasoning is that the harder I work now, the more time I will have for her in the very near future. Am I kidding myself?

I have seen the term "Mommy Guilt" surfacing all over the place. (BTW, Is there "Daddy Guilt" too? And if so, do we talk about it?) I work very hard, always have and am a mom. Balancing work and home is a common and daily struggle. At the end of the day, the benefits outweigh the costs... I guess.

At any rate, a fellow mom has recommended the book, "I was a really Good Mom Before I had Kids", by Trisha Ashworth. Check it out, let me know what you think. Im going to read it too-

Three moms (or dads) who comment on how you deal with mommy/daddy guilt get a FREE myPC Stage I Keyboard for your child! Winners will be announced next week.

We are ALL winners with myPC, so for 20% off of the first spill proof keyboard for toddlers, visit www.mytechstart.com and enter Promo Code 20PERCENT at check out. Enjoy!