Motherhood is Hard Work Period!

The current hot topic on stay-at-home moms and working moms is largely a distraction.  Anyone who is a mom or knows a mom can quickly put this all into perspective - Mom is a hard job regardless! 

For nearly twenty years I was a stay-at-home mom.  The job description is a laundry list: Nurse, doctor, surgeon, teacher, cook, playmate, lawmaker, peace keeper, budget officer, counselor, healthcare manager, errand runner, carpool-er, the "Indian and chief" of whatever is going on at any given time. The job requirements are so vast and varied I won't try to list more.  A mom is in a constantly evolving state to meet her family's needs. Always on call. No sick days. A vacation with the family usually amounts to extra duties with no extra service pay. Pay - not in dollars because she is priceless, and a well kept secret. Mom is the gravity that keeps it all in orbit.  

Oh yeah, I can't forget that the stay-at-home mom is also the support staff for her husband. A job in and of itself.  While being a stay-at-home mom, I often accompanied my husband to social, community and political events.  He would introduce me to everyone and inevitably the question would be asked, "So what do YOU do?"  I always had to suppress the first response that came to mind, "I do it all!"  But I knew at the time these particular groups (politicians, business men, corporate execs, and the like) couldn't relate, so I would smile and say, "I am a facilitator..." Waiting for the "of what" to come, I would try not to burst into laughter.

I re-entered the public workforce 18 years ago.  However, I never relinquished my job as Mom. My job responsibilities outside the home have to be blended and balanced with my job at home.  At work, no matter how busy I am, my mind is always referencing the "to do" list for my home.

The interesting thing about it all (with all the conjecture about who works and who doesn't work) is the at-home mom skills have made me better at what I do at work.  Prime example - my people skills. Working with difficult people, having and showing empathy, having patience and keeping a cool head in stressful situations, meeting deadlines, prioritizing, multitasking and more; all these abilities were built and strengthen during my tenure as a stay-at-home mom.  My self-confidence at work comes from doing it all at home (and doing it all well, I might add) with the most demanding people I know and I love.  It's because I love them that I am still on the job at work and at home.

I plan to retire from my "away from home" job one day. 

But I will be MOM forever...

... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So the debate is nonsense to me. Mom carries the biggest responsibility of any job, no matter where she is.