“The Grass is Always Greener” Syndrome

And then there are the stay-at-home moms – the ones who tell me that they miss working. They miss doing something for themselves. They miss having adult interaction with someone aside from their husbands on a daily basis.

For these women, it would seem that they need something to do with their minds. They need more emotional stimulation – a challenge, maybe. Maybe, they need to feel as though they’re doing something productive, something that fulfills them personally and professionally – using their degree that they paid a small fortune for.

I’ve lost track of the women that have mentioned to me that they are stay-at-home moms mostly because they have to be – because they don’t have reliable childcare and daycare costs almost as much as or more than what their earning potential would be to reenter the workforce. It’s not that they don’t love their kids – of course, they do, but they want to do something for themselves as well. They want their little ones to see them working too.

Whatever the reasons – and they’re as varied as the women giving them, it seems as though a large percentage of women are unhappy with their current status as either working moms or stay-at-home moms. I really do wonder, though, if the “grass is always greener” syndrome is as common as it seems or if the women who are unhappy are just much more vocal about it than their reverse role counterparts.

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question and it’s one that every woman has to answer for herself. What’s important to you? What makes you happy? Have you noticed a serious case of the “the grass is always greener” syndrome? Why do you think that is? Leave a comment and weigh in on your current status and how you feel about it.

Written by: Cristi Wuenschel