Quotes For Working Moms Reminding: DEAR, YOU ARE ENOUGH

As my 1.5-year-old hung on me while I was working on this blog post, I remembered one of the quotes for working moms, which says,

“Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything.”

Every moment I am out there pursuing my career, there is a demanding little one (or two) for whom I am everything at this very moment. Juggling work and motherhood is not for the faint of heart, for sure. However, seeing the purpose and beauty in this struggle is liberating.

Today, working moms are grappling with gnawing guilt over not being good enough or not being present enough.

If you are constantly bombarded with clenching thoughts about being in the wrong place, doing the wrong things, and scrambling to keep up, know that you are not alone in this battle!

Millions of working moms face the same doubts when navigating the complex but rewarding journey of balancing careers and motherhood. I have collected a bunch of working mom quotes to prove that a perfect work-life balance for moms is no more than an illusion and to remind you that YOU ARE ALWAYS ENOUGH.

Let us celebrate working moms with their ups and downs, good days and bad days, tears of joy and tears of frustration, and honestly say: WE MANAGE.

50+ Quotes for Working Moms on Superpowers, Guilt, and More

Busy mom quotes proving that working moms are uncelebrated superheroes

Working mothers lead crazy lives. If someone had told you that being a working mom would be such a wild ride, would you have ever gone for it? If not for this crazy blend of diapers and deadlines, I would never have learned how strong I am. We working moms may sometimes not have time to change diapers, but we always have time to change the world! This bunch of busy mom quotes is proof:

“Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease.” – Lisa Alther

“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” – Agatha Christie

“Working moms are guinea pigs in a science experiment to show that sleep is not necessary to human life.” – Unknown

“Being a mom means you’re the CEO of your family, and being a working mom means you’re the CEO of two jobs.” – Unknown

“Being a working mother instills in you a sense of determination” – Felicity Jones

“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” – Milton Berle

“Working moms are the ultimate multitaskers, and they make it look effortless.” – Unknown

“My husband was raised by a SAHD (stay-at-home-dad)… they ate Hamburger Helper and oven baked pizza every night… he has a lot of health issues into adulthood and wonders enough about his childhood nutrition that he obsesses over it for our kids and refuses to feed them any of the foods he had when he was little. Meanwhile my mom worked and got her masters degree at the same time lived below the poverty line and made sure we had fresh cooked dinner every night…” – Reddit

“Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary – it’s an act of infinite optimism.” – Gilda Radner

“I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: you go through big chunks of time where you’re just thinking, ‘This is impossible – oh, this is impossible.’ And then you just keep going and keep going, and you sort of do the impossible.” – Tina Fey

“There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.” – Bosa Sebele

“This struggle is real. The juggle is real. That’s why everyone should hire working mothers. They are put in crazy situations all the time and are forced to problem-solve. They are some of my most resourceful employees.” – Sara Blakely

“Strong women don’t play victim, don’t make themselves look pitiful, and don’t point fingers. They stand, and they deal.” – Mandy Hale

“You can quit a job. I can’t quit being a mother. I’m a mother forever. Mothers are never off the clock; mothers are never on vacation. Being a mother redefines us, reinvents us, destroys and rebuilds us. Being a mother brings us face-to-face with ourselves as children, with our mothers as human beings, with our darkest fears of who we really are. Being a mother requires us to get it together or risk messing up another person forever.” – Shonda Rhimes

“I love being on teams with working mothers. They are the highest-functioning messes I know.” – Maricar Santos

“I’ve commanded you to be brave and strong, haven’t I? Don’t be alarmed or terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Bible, Joshua 1:9

Working mother quotes about being powerful role models

Want it or not, being a working mom means being a role model. You teach your kids to actually LOVE WORK by your own example. Your positive attitude and passion for YOUR THING help them grow into fulfilled and reliable people with a strong work ethic. Here’s a collection of working mother quotes celebrating this tremendous impact on a new generation.

a mom working with her daughter near her — Image: Pexels

“If I’m pursuing my goals, my kids are seeing me at my best. I am filled up, I am happy, I am not feeling empty, depleted, and therefore resentful about the fact that I’m missing out on my child’s life. I don’t want them to feel like I’ve sacrificed, I don’t want them to feel that burden. I always remember that a happy working woman is a happy mother.” – Shonda Rhimes

“I think it’s good for moms to work. I have three daughters, so I like them to see me working and doing something I’m passionate about.” – Mary McCormack

“I want her to know something that I feel is important. I love work. I love her and I love work, and I want her to know work’s a good thing. It’s not something you’re dragged off to.” – Hoda Kotb

“For all working mothers it’s important to remember that we don’t get to be with our kids all the time, but it’s also important for them to see us as leaders, and there is value in that.” – Olivia Wilde

“For me, being a mother made me a better professional because coming home every night to my girls reminded me what I was working for. And being a professional made me a better mother because by pursuing my dreams, I was modeling for my girls how to pursue their dreams. ” – Michelle Obama

“Being a working mom means that we are raising our children to be independent and strong, just like us.” – Unknown

“The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.” – Elaine Heffner

“My mother was the one constant in my life. When I think about my mom raising me alone when she was 20 and working and paying the bills, and, you know, trying to pursue your own dreams, I think is a feat that is unmatched.” – Barack Obama

“Working moms are teaching their kids a solid work ethic. You’re teaching them that we don’t just have things handed to us, and we have to work for the things we want.” – Unknown

Working moms quotes on balancing work and motherhood: is it possible at all?

“Balance”… What does it mean anyway? A balance in a working mom’s life makes sense only if she fills it with her own meaning.

Balance exists only in your mind when you are fulfilled both as a worker and as a mother. It has nothing to do with meeting someone else’s standards or living up to other people’s expectations. In my humble opinion, there can be only “my balance”, “your balance”, or “her balance” as a creative and very individual way to manage work and family, and this collection of working moms quotes prove it:

“It’s not difficult to take care of a child; it’s difficult to do anything else while taking care of a child.” – Julianne Moore

“Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton

“When you have children, you have to be fiercely organized to get anything done. I learned that if I don’t put myself up on the priority list, somehow my kids will eventually get knocked down on that list.” – Michelle Obama

“As a working mom, you often feel like you are failing at both roles, but in reality, you are succeeding at two of the most important jobs in the world.” – Unknown

“The obligation for working mothers is a very precise one: the feeling that one ought to work as if one did not have children while raising one’s children as if one did not have a job.” – Annabel Crabb

“Motherhood and career can coexist beautifully when love is the glue that holds them together.” – Unknown

“I think moms put a lot of pressure on ourselves, trying to balance it all. It’s never going to be perfectly balanced – the sooner you know this, the sooner you can relieve some of the pressure you put on yourself.” – Denise Richards

“A working mom’s heart is always at home, no matter where her job takes her.” – Unknown

“You are not a bad mom because you go to work each day. Similarly, you are not a failure because you left your career altogether. Choices regarding work and family are personal – there is no one-size-fits-all method. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.” — Candace Alnaji

“Balancing work and motherhood is not easy, but it is worth it. You are showing your children that they can pursue their dreams and be great parents, too.” – Unknown

“You can spend all day with your kids, and still feel disconnected. Or you can spend just a few hours building incredible bonds and memories. It isn’t the amount of time you spend with your kids that matters, it is the amount of quality time you spend with them.” – Unknown

“A mother is not defined by the number of hours she spends at work but by the love and care she gives to her children.” – Unknown

“The culture was so condescending to stay-at-home mothers that we allowed them the fiction that being a mother was the hardest job in the world. Well, it wasn’t. Having an actual job and being a mother is the hardest job in the world.” – Fleishman is in Trouble

“Balancing work and motherhood is not about sacrificing one for the other but finding harmony between the two.” – Unknown

“As a working mom, I may not be there all the time, but I am always there when it counts.” – Unknown

“Balancing work and motherhood is not about perfection; it’s about being present for your children while doing the best you can in your career.” – Unknown

“I have met stay-at-home moms and moms who have a job outside the home, but I have yet to meet a mom who doesn’t work.” – Unknown

“Kids need a happy mother, so if working makes you happy, by all means, do it.” – Unknown

“In short, work – and lots of it – is an indispensable component in a meaningful human life. It is a supreme gift from God and one of the main things that gives our lives purpose. But it must play its proper role, subservient to God. It must regularly give way not just to work stoppage for bodily repair but also to joyful reception of the world and of ordinary life.” – Timothy Keller

Working moms are high-wire artists who have found THEIR BALANCE, and proper self-care is the balance pole that keeps them up and doing.

Working mom guilt quotes

When your hands are already that full, dropping something is normal. Moms are real pros in multitasking, but sometimes our limitations hit us hard and the working mom guilt trip begins. Moms cannot be everywhere at the same time and make everybody happy even though we often buy into these lies. Inevitably, “feeling a bad mom” becomes our second nature.

These working mom guilt quotes remind you that you are not alone and that mom guilt can be overcome.

“You cannot do everything at once, so find people you trust to help you. And don’t be afraid to say no.” – Jane Seymour

“Trying to do it all and expecting that it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy… Done is better than perfect.” – Sheryl Sandberg

“Guilt management can be just as important as time management for mothers.” – Sheryl Sandberg

“There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one.” – Jill Churchill

“One bad day does not make me a bad mom. One bad day makes me human.” – Unknown

“If you have never been hated by your child you have never been a parent.” – Bette Davis

“In my distress, I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” – Bible, Psalm 118:5-6

“There will be so many times when you feel like you fail as a mother. But never forget in the eyes and mind of your child, you are the best mom they could ever have.” – Unknown

“Be the mom you want to be, not the mom others expect you to be.” – Unknown

“I think while all mothers deal with guilt, working mothers are plagued by guilt on steroids.” – Arianna Huffington

Make sure you read out posts on working mom guilt and how to crush guilt to finally reclaim your fulfilling mom life!

DEAR, you are always ENOUGH!

“Moms are cool. They can do it all!” We hear it from all corners. Every working woman who has been there knows the irony behind these words. We do because we must (even at the cost of not having quality solo time for years). We are strong because we do not look for excuses. However, our strength is a limited resource.

We cannot do it all. However, we can always do what is best for our families.

No matter how hard we work and how much time we spend with our children – breastfeeding or bottle-feeding – there will always be people saying we are not good enough.

It is time to mute those working mom shamers and shake off that burden of guilt dictated by social media’s perfectionism voices. Instead, switch your focus over to things that restore your worthiness, whether it’s a prayer, a good book, a sincere talk with a friend, or even these instant pick-me-ups for busy moms!

And finally, remember that your perception of yourself and your accomplishments is not how your child sees you. You are their IDEAL EVERYTHING!

Feel free to share your favorite working mom quote in the comments or… create your own!