I'm doing the best that I can.

I should know better than to get upset by what other people say on the Internet, but sometimes I can't help myself. Sometimes people say things that cut so deeply, that touch such a nerve, that I just can't let it go.

A friend of mine posted a rather humorous status message on Facebook musing about why an eleven year old would have a cell phone, and who could possibly be calling an eleven year old early in the morning. It was a lighthearted comment, but one of his relatives felt the need to respond thusly:

A parent who probably never saw her child get up this morning b/c they already left for work & most likely will only see their child for (maybe) 2-3 hrs before they go to bed. Sad how some parents only spend time with their children 15 hrs... out of 121 hrs in 5 days! Priorities! Money should never replace time with your children. Invest, rather, in your child's future. The other reason for a young child to have a cell phone.......broken homes. Helps the absentee parent keep in better touch (to help ease the conscience of that parent). I know......harsh examples, but unfortunally I koow of too many real life situations to back it up. 

I realize she isn't talking about me.  She doesn't even know me.  But those words hurt.  I work outside the home at least five days a week.  I leave at 7 a.m. and don't return until after 6 p.m. because that's what my job demands.  I cherish every minute with my son, every precious and all-to-rare minute.   If there's a choice between sleeping in and spending time with Jack, I spend time with Jack every single time.  If there's a choice between a babysitter or finding an activity I can do with Jack, I find something Jack and I can do together every single time.  Maybe that isn't enough - God knows I struggle with that question every time I leave the house to go to work.  Did I make Jack smile this morning?  Was our time together quality time?  Did I read to him enough, sing to him enough, hold him enough?

Am I wrong?  Am I doing the wrong thing?  No, I can't even question it.  I'm confident that I'm doing the best that I can for my family.  If I don't go to work, we don't have a roof over our heads, food in our refrigerator, health insurance.  Absent winning the lottery or living on some kind of handout, I don't know any other way to do this.  Money certainly does not replace time with my child, thank  you very much, but it is a necessity, a fact of life. 

My choice to work long hours is not born of a desire for things, for accumulation and status symbols.  I do it out of the deep love I have for my family.  That can't be the wrong things to do.  And lest this post become any more melodramatic than I already has, I will end on a light note, with a nod to Bender:  judgmental people like that broad on Facebook can bite my shiny metal ass.