Proverbs 16:18  

Does not just about everyone do the best they can with their personal situation in life?  Who has a perfect life?  And don't even begin lying to me about who has perfect husbands or children.  I was a stay at home mom for years, and I saw these kids when I'd volunteer at school.  So my point is make the best of every day, find a few minutes to squeeze in for yourself, maybe a 15 minute hot bath, or a 10 minute meditation, or just having the kids rub your feet.  And count up the good things that you actually do in this life.  Because trust me, you all are wonderful mothers, regardless of your working status, and someday when your kids are grown, I want you to remember this.  Whatever goof ups they make as adults will have nothing to do with your working status, but might have some to do with how decent you were to yourself.

@Mom2Daughters - I agree with @WaitingToShrug@xanga.

I was with your post until the very end. We do not know what Suzy wants. It seems that she is significantly financially better off - does being financially better off mean she doesn't know what is truly important and what she should truly cherish? Perhaps she does recognize what really counts and the other stuff that she enjoys are just extra perks, but are not necessary for her to be content. If you assume that all she wants is more, more, more then I question whether you are really no longer jealous/truly content.  Did you find contentment in assuming that Suzy will never be satisfied despite all her stuff, while you achieved it without all the stuff?

Should one assume that if one is poorer, one is more in tune with what's really important? I grew up as a lower middle class American, the child of immigrants. And I learned through their actions and sacrifices what is really important. We didn't have fancy clothes, fancy cars or a fancy house. But still plenty of my peers who grew up better than I did, (had fancier clothes, parents had nicer cars, had bigger houses, went on more vacations etc...) were still decent people who truly cared about the important things, some becoming my life long friends.

There's always going to be someone who has more than you. Even Suzy probably knows someone who is even more better off than her. It doesn't serve to assume that they are just caught up in the material world and thus you have the moral high ground. If that is your attitude then it seems you are more ensnared in the material world than you thought.

My opinion is you shouldn't compare yourself about what others do or what others have that you don't have. Instead of assuming Suzy is just a materialistic, short-sighted person, just be happy for her.  Be happy for others, don't hope that deep down inside they aren't satisfied.  Once you learn to be happy for others can you truly be content.

I think i agree with the tone of the original post. now a days it is easy to get catch up in envying your naighbors financial position based on the things that are most obvious: cars, homes, pools, extracurricular activities.  I often look at my friends with children and wonder, HOW do they DO it? Then I visit their homes and see the everyday clutter and the untidy counters and laundry and progress and remind myself while it is easy to make assumptions, they are trying just as hard as everyone else to keep things together and balance all the competing aspects of their life (albiet more gracefully than I can and i don't even have kids yet!).  I have to constantly remind myself or what I DON'T need to keep myself centered and focused and unenvious. Unfortunately with all of the images in the media, we are pretty much programed to want the next new thing or to update our lifestyle. I can't compete with the images of mothers on TV, which is why i love spending time with my other mother friends for a refreshing dose of reality.