"Our struggling" - Part 3

If you read part 1 and 2 of this series you might already be at a point where you think: "Holy crap, seeing all these challenges, that we women face in the business world concentrated on one page are already enough of a struggling." But I have to tell you, it is not the complete list yet. Another big challenge that you probably have identified for yourself already is the double role, that we still have to play: Being business woman and mother.
Ok, society models are changing and luckily more and more fathers are taking over huge parts in the responsibility for the kids. But nevertheless it is us, who have the baby. And honestly, the decision about who stays home raising the children is often based on the salary: The one who earns less, stays home. And unfortunately that is in most cases the woman. So, for us the baby question often becomes a question about the fundamental decision between family or career.
But the good news is, that you don't need to make a decision. You can have both! If you want it. This might, however, include some reshaping of our original idea about how a family works. The romantic idea about spending afternoons with our little ones in the kitchen baking cookies, or accompanying them to school pick nicks is not working in this model. Having both, career and family, means that we have to get used to the idea, that big parts of our private responsibilities and roles are taken over by other persons. This help can come from persons that we "buy" like nannies or housekeepers, or it can come from inside our family like our parents or in-laws supporting us.
This might sound like a simple solution, but the biggest challenge of this solution is coming from inside of us. Not for every woman it is easy to give away those responsibilities. Many of us are suffering from accusing ourselves of being a bad mother or housewife when having someone else taking care of those things. If you are recognizing yourself in this now, consider the following: A long-term study conducted in the US since the 1970-ies and published in 2008 revealed that children of working mothers are happier, more successful and more resistant than children of non-working mothers. This is explained by the conclusion that working mothers are happier because they fulfill their professional dreams, and this happiness and balance is transmitted to their children. But careful: Mothers that decide to stop working because they find their fulfillment in being together with their children create a different case!

This series about "Our struggling" revealed a lot of challenges that we women face in the business world. But it also showed that these challenges have the potential to be overcome. In this blog I will come back again and again to these three main areas of our struggling and put them into a different light. I am looking forward to your comments and will enjoy discussing the different issues with you. Hope to see you soon.