Major Mum Guilt this morning :(

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I feel so awful this morning. My DS (10 months) has been unwell for a few days with a bad virus and it was at it's peak over the bank hols. He seemed to perk up last night apart from a stuffy nose etc so I got all his bags ready for nursery and got all my stuff ready for work.

This morning he woke up and sounded and looked awful and didn't have much of an appetite. He wasn't ill to the point of needing a Doctor but you could see in his eyes he was run down and very grumpy and clingy. However, we decided to go ahead and send him to nursery as I had already missed a day's work staying home with him last week and I only work 3 days and I'm behind on my work as it is. He looked so sorry for himself being dropped off and I feel awful for taking him, but I need to work.

Am I just being a bit sensitive here as I have this awful feeling of guilt eating away at me while I am sat at my desk trying to work. :( Should I have stayed home with him?

Yes, I think this is a mother struggling to balance work with childcare and she wanted some support, which wasn’t unreasonable.

Don't worry too much about the posters nitpicking and analysing the exact words you used in your opening post. It's irritatingly common and not the way you'd communicate with somebody face to face. You don't need to justify your choice of pretty usual language and yes, I think I'd have been tempted to do the same as you. I feel some kind of mum guilt on a daily basis, you just need to learn to live with it.

Then that needs to change. My employer is understanding that I might need time off but expects me to share it equally with my child's father. I had to take lots of time when they started nursery and they weren't happy at all until I showed them each instance I'd looked after them my DP had looked after them roughly twice as I was back at work and they knew I needed to settle in.