To all the Moms

I salute you.

I do.

Whether you work or stay at home or stay at home and home-school? I give you top props.


We lost something in the movement towards being recognized as human beings and not ornaments on a man's arm (the feminist movement). We did become something more thanks to our foremothers who worked tirelessly to allow us to own property, the vote, etc. I'm not complaining.  But somewhere along the way we lost the value of just being Mom. Or rather, there's no value if we're Just Mom and not Super Mom.

I can't tell you how much I struggled against the ideal of being Super Mom in today's culture.

"You talk about your kids too much. You need a Hobby. Or A Job." I was told when they were small.

I'm older and wiser and if that was said to me now?  I'd say, "I have a Job. It's called Being Mom."

What I've learned? A Job doesn't stop a Mom from being a Mom. I worked evenings when Jeremy came home and could take over parenting duties.  I took jobs to help supplement the income, sure, but mostly it was to keep me sane.  Adult conversation, folks. I was desperate for adult conversation. Staying home with the kids is not for the faint of heart, lest you think it's running around in PJ's and eating bon-bons while watching TV. 

Can I just say, I'm tired of that stereotype? I'm tired of the assumption that because a mother chose to raise her children that a) she's not educated enough to get a job (oh yes, I heard this one a lot in the last 17 years) b) she's too lazy to get a job c) she's not really 'working.'

As my children become more independent, I have been able to work my Job(s) around their schedules so I can continue to make them my priority.