THE KOST OF BEING A WORKING MUM...
TV3 star Karen shares tales of guilt with other busy mothers
KAREN Koster has told how she’ll be a blubbering mess on telly tonight as she lifts the lid on “Mammy Guilt”.
The TV3 star let cameras into her home and followed eight different working and stayat-home mums to find out why women across the nation are struck with this syndrome.
While filming with an obstetrician the 36-yearold presenter is overcome with emotion. Karen told the Irish PRESENTER Karen Koster Mirror: “I was in bits crying. There’s a few moments where a mum will be telling her story or will be saying bye to her kids and you just realise the pull they all have with her own children.
“This mum was really missing her kids that day, she was in Galway and wouldn’t see the kids for a few days.
“She was an obstetrician and was willing to do that while she trained and qualified.
“She wasn’t going to be able to put them to bed that night, also my own son JJ was a similar age, the tears just flowed.”
Karen, 17 weeks pregnant with her third child, said the programme idea came to her as she was hanging out the washing.
She explained: “I kept thinking am I doing the right thing by keeping up working. “Is the fact they’re in childcare 35 hours a week going to affect them down the line.
“People say it’s great for socialising but are they not going to have the same bond with me because I’m not around as much.
“Different studies contradict each other. Some say kids do better in day care others say they do better if they’re with their mums all the time for the first year.
“It’s the constant overload of information we are fed as parents, it’s like actually hang on is there a right way of rearing your kid when it comes to trying to keep up working.”
■ Mammy Guilt: True Lives is on TV3 tonight at 9pm.