On a rainy day on the Emerald Isle, it can be tempting to assume that motherhood must be easier somewhere sunny. But is it really? For the first 18 months of her daughter’s life, our very own original Haute Mama was a Stateside Mom. So here at Haute Mama Towers we decided to grill her about the experience, to find out whether American Moms have it easier than their Irish counterparts. All those sunkissed celeb Moms make it look so easy! She even asked her friends what they thought…

Originally from Cork, Jill is a Mom who now calls San Francisco home. Her verdict on whether life is different for Moms Stateside? Location, location, location. She said; “I think that there might be a significant difference depending on where in the US you’re talking about. For example, a Mom in the SF/Bay Area, NY, or Boston is going to have a really different experience than a Mom in the Mid-West of America.” (We’re going to hazard a guess and assume the former might be, um, more fun.)

So what about the age-old Working Mom vs. Stay At Home Mum debate? Does one side of the camp have it easier on the other side of the pond? Jill reckons that all depends how wealthy you are and where you live. She says; “I find Moms generally biased to being Stay-At-Home-Moms, but the colleagues that I work with obviously chose to live here in the Bay area, and to work. There is a great support mechanism for working Moms. There are magazines available for free on Parenting, and on resources for kids activities, plus Moms clubs for each local area. I also have supportive bosses, and daycare based at my workplace – although this isn’t common, we are spoiled with that!”

Jill also rates the urgent care Stateside for after-hours visits to the doctor. “Provided you have good medical coverage,” she adds. “I can’t imagine how tough it must be without it here.”

But it’s not all sunshine and doughnuts for LA Moms. Jill admits that she misses her  family – that trusted support network we can all too easily take for granted – and her friends, specifically ones from her childhood who are somewhat more accessible from Ireland.

Jill adds, “On the prospect of moving home to Ireland, what I don’t imagine I’ll miss is the lack of parks and museums in Cork. They are two-a-penny here in the Bay Area. It’s just incredible the amount of options we have each morning (when I’m not working).”

Anything else she’ll miss? I’ll give you a guess. It starts with ’s’ and ends with ‘unshine’!

Saoirse is a Mom from from Galway, currently living in Florida. She finds baby-friendly facilities far superior in the US. “I was stunned when I came home with my baby girl and realized that it was near impossible to find a spacious, clean facility to change and nurse my little one. I know that the lack of malls in Ireland means that these facilities simply do not exist but I found the café’s and restaurants on trips home grossly inadequate.”

Claire, a Mom from Mayo, now living in Boston, can live without the baby facilities in malls at home in Ireland as she doesn’t get out shopping often with three little lovelies at home. But since she relies on online shopping to send gifts to her nieces, nephew and the children of friends, she finds the lack of online stores for children and babies frustrating. (Obviously Haute Mama solves all those problems for her, and with a wonderful gift-wrapping service thrown in!)

Kate, a Mom from Dublin, now living in Connecticut, finds the biggest difference between Irish and US moms is apparent within the first five minutes of conversation. “Within 5 minutes of meeting an Irish mom the chat is usually on something like whether it’s ok to have a half glass of wine while nursing. Within 5 minutes of meeting a US mom I’m intimately aware of the details of her episiotomy. I find American moms to be far less self-conscious. Not always in a good way though!”

So there you have it. Life might be sunnier for Moms in the States but what they gain in terms of facilities and sunshine, they sacrifice in terms of the family life, craic, and altogether Irishness of life on the Emerald Isle. Maybe we could come to some arrangement with our US counterparts on the sunshine? You send us some of that, and we’ll send you some sunny Irish charm and cheer…

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