Many people associate summer with a much-needed break, but one working mom is sharing her reality to spread awareness about the dreaded mom guilt — and how the warm season can make it even worse.
In a May post titled “Mom-Guilt Season Is Upon Us” on her blog Please Bring Coffee, Missouri-based mother-of-three Megan Brammeier got candid about what she feels summer really means for working parents.
“The teachers are counting down, the students are hyping up, the pools are about to open and everyone’s ready for some good summer fun! Everyone except those of us who don’t get a break,” she wrote. “We have been scrambling to find childcare coverage for the summer months, and overpaying for summer camps that look really fun to compensate for the guilt of not giving our kids a break for the summer.”
“The daily grind to get up, ready and out the door is a 12-month marathon over here, and the faint tune of the ice cream truck on a Tuesday afternoon is all the gut-punch it takes to make my eyes swell with tears,” Brammeier admitted in her post, proclaiming in a separate paragraph, “The daily hustle prevails.”
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Speaking with Good Morning America, Brammeier — who is mom to daughters Peyton, 1, Aubrey, 4, and Brynlee, 6 — said she was motivated to write the post on a particularly tough day, prompted by “another reminder that summer is near” she saw at every turn.
“Which doesn’t mean much for us full-time working parents. It is hard to be inside working when you know summer is made for playing outside and the most joyous season for kids,” Brammeier explained, adding that she doesn’t “separate ‘mom’ and ‘work’ life very much” given her career
“I sometimes work during the evenings or weekends when my kids are around, and sometimes have my kids around if they are sick or whatever when I’m working,” she continued. “It all balances it out when you have the right support system, and give yourself a whole lot of grace.”
Near the end of her post (which she has received “overwhelming” support on from other moms who feel similarly, she told GMA), Brammeier vowed to “happily and as carefree-ly as possible continue to wake up, brush our teeth, brush our hairs, get dressed and head to school, daycare and camps with the joy of summer in our smiles, and the pang of monotony in our meltdowns.”
“We will be grateful for jobs we love and extra thankful when the weekend rolls around,” she continued. “If you’re with me mama — your heart filled with a dash of sadness and the twinge of FOMO as summer quickly approaches — I really have nothing but this statement of solidarity. You are not alone, and we can do hard things.”
Brammeier ended her post with a cheery wish for her fellow working-mom readers: “I wish you weeknights on the driveway, weekends at the pool and a margarita with your name on it every Friday at 5.”
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