Mommy Guilt While Traveling

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Published on Monday, September 26, 2011 11:31

Written by FamilyFun TravelingMom

Sometimes a traveling mom has to miss important things back home and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. I found this out the hard way when I got a text from my husband last night letting me know my six year old lost her first tooth. I know, not exactly a first step or first word, but this was a very big deal to my daughter. Most of her friends had already lost three or four teeth and she was so excited when she felt her tooth start wiggling two weeks before my trip. We tried to get the tooth out a couple times, wiggling it a bit but not too hard because we didn’t want it to hurt. We were trying to coerce it out but decided we’d just have to let nature take its course. And it did. A day before I was supposed to come home from my trip. The stinkin’ tooth couldn’t wait one more day? Really?!

It may sound ridiculous, but it really upset me to get this news on the road and to know there was no way to get home and help the tooth fairy with this first job for my sweet daughter. I even left a networking event I was attending to head back to my hotel, so upset with myself, not that it helped anything. But I thought about it plenty through the night and just accepted that it is what it is. I’m sure I’ll miss more events, though I hope not too many.

If it had been earlier in the day I would have tried to talk with my daughter, but I got the call late at night and figured she was in bed. I didn’t see a picture of her new grin until late the next day.

The guilt I feel in missing it is heavy. It’s the price I pay for traveling, for being away from home, I know. But I enjoy these trips and the time away to concentrate on me for a bit. Maybe that makes me a selfish mom. Maybe it makes me a better mom because I appreciate my time with them even more. I believe I shower my children with enough love to know how much I care and that my heart is with them, even when I’m not physically there.

Have you ever felt mommy guilt on the road? Did anything help make it better? Leave a comment below with any advice you can offer.