#myworkingmomstory | Sarah Morgan

What keeps your plate full these days?

I work for a small company and mostly do direct mail marketing/fundraising for a ministry. I do some reporting and creative work, but probably my biggest responsibilities are project management and keeping all our projects moving forward.

Are your kids in school? Daycare? Who cares for them ?

My husband and I both work from home, so we both take care of him. However, more of the responsibility during work hours falls on me.

Do you work because you want to, need to, or some combination of both? What’s your honest answer to the question, “Why do you work?” 

After my son was born my husband and I agreed that we were in a place where I could quit my job and be a SAHM. I went back to work for a couple of months and put my notice in at the beginning of December 2022. In an effort to keep me, my bosses offered to let me work full time from home with the agreement that I have all the flexibility I need to do both my job and mom. I accepted it. Some days I feel crazy since my dream was always to be a SAHM, but I decided to keep my job because I felt really valued by my bosses/company when they wanted to keep me and I am really good at what I do. In short, I guess I work because I really enjoy what I do and wanted to have my cake and eat it too while it was being offered on a plate to me. 

What does your day to day look like?

My husband usually wakes up with baby first and lets me sleep in a little bit since I’m up during the night to nurse our son. Most days I go back and forth between doing my work tasks and playing with Ryder. Nap time is when I really focus on getting work tasks done and when I have a meeting my husband takes on entertaining Ryder. I usually start off the day in our home office, but once my husband has a meeting, baby and I move to the living room. Thankfully he’s not mobile yet and that makes keeping him contained a little bit easier.

How does being a working mom impact your kids — either positively or negatively?

When I went into the office, I know he had a harder time eating (he’ll take a bottle but doesn’t love to) and my husband would put him into a “container” toy in front of the TV when he needed to get things done for work. Being able to work from home has been a 100% improvement in that aspect.

What holds the biggest tension in trying to manage everything?

Mom guilt for sure. I had the chance to be a full time mom and I decided to keep working. Sometimes I feel really selfish for making that choice.

What’s one resource that would make your life easier?

My parents living closer. It would be so nice to have our “village” closer to us.

How would you encourage other working moms who are overwhelmed?

There is no all-encompassing right answer, you have do what is best for your family. Make the most of the time you have with your kid(s) and take every opportunity to show them you love them.

Any last words for working moms?

I just want to acknowledge that I am very blessed and lucky to work for a company that would rather “bend” their policy to keep me as an employee instead of see me go.

So now I place big, meaningful and smart bets. I better prepare upfront before diving into new projects. I prioritize effectively. I pick real deadlines and stick to them. And I try to drive clarity on issues as fast as possible.