Image by Natalie Ghidotti

Craftiness at the wee hours of the night pays off! The Holy Souls PreK crew show off their masks before the big parade.

I have been guilted into playing Martha Stewart on rare occasions. The guilt stems from the common mommy war: working moms vs. stay-at-home moms (those glorious people who go on walks in the park with their kids, make homemade Valentine’s cards and bake cupcakes “just because”).

As I’m sure every working mom feels, I am in a constant battle with myself to play the Super Mom role. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy and content to be working. It’s what I love, and I honestly feel like my kids benefit from me having a life outside of the home. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to do it all even though there are only 24 hours in a day.

I want my kids to have homemade cupcakes and art projects. I don’t want them to miss out on those special things because I’m working. It’s why I stayed up until midnight making Mardi Gras masks for my son’s school parade. The masks weren’t required (heck, even the stay-at-home moms thought I was insane), but because of my constant fear of underachievement in the mommy role, I coerced my husband into decorating 12 masks for the classroom. See, even my poor husband is sucked into the mommy war!

Last week, I came across this post from blogger Liz Gumbinner (@Mom101 on Twitter) on mommy jealousy — thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side. It struck me because of its truth. And it was a reminder that instead of wishing we were someone else, we should work hard at accepting who we are as moms and revel in what makes us special to our family.

And I think: Ah, to be a stay at home mom with a hedge fund husband so I can plan my day around hot chocolate outings.

And she thinks: Ah, to be a mom with a job that requires me to wear fancy shoes and use four-syllable words and get through an entire day without hearing Elmo's voice or having someone throwing up on me.

This doesn’t mean I won’t still stay up until the crack of dawn trying to cut out Valentine’s hearts or bake ridiculous teacher gifts, but I’ll try to remind myself to live in the present and focus on what makes my family work regardless of the shade of grass on the other side.