I find myself meeting new people fairly often and undoubtedly always get asked “what do you do?”
That’s when I start spurting out answers. “Well I’m an attorney but I’m not currently practicing but I do mediate some and do some work from home and I have a blog…”
It’s like my natural instinct is to rattle off everything to avoid saying or implying that “I’m just a mom.”
I don’t know why I do this. I shouldn’t be embarrassed that I’m
staying at home with my baby. In many countries I would still be on
maternity leave at this point.
I understand that being a stay at home mom is a huge privilege that many women don’t get to experience. And a lot of women don’t won’t to be stay at home moms probably for the completely understandable reason that they want adult human interaction on a regular basis or that they find self-fulfillment in their careers. But there’s also nothing wrong with choosing to stay at home, and no reason to be ashamed of saying “I’m a stay at home mom.”
Being a mom of a young child, whether you stay at home or work, is not easy. It’s really hard. And it’s a 24/7 job with no sick days. One where you rarely hear “good job” or “keep it up” or “thank you for your work.” But despite the tough aspect of the job there are more great moments than bad. I love that every day I’m able to go to the park with MG or take her to classes and each day I watch her eyes light up while she explores the world and my heart melts when I hear her laugh.
Nobody is just a mom. Even if I didn’t have any part-time work and didn’t blog I would never be just a mom. Being a mom is amazing, and being a stay at home mom is what I’ve always dreamed of, but I don’t think that there is any woman who is just a mom. As human beings we have a lot more dimensions and facets than being just anything. I’ll never be “just a mom” but I shouldn’t be ashamed to answer the people who ask what I do by saying proudly “I’m a stay at home mom.” If our conversation goes on sure I can tell them how I’d like to get more into mediating or about blogging or the whole being an attorney deal but I don’t need to rattle them all off to defend myself against being a stay at home mom.
Most importantly, to Maddie Grace I’m “mamamamamamamama”. And that’s the best thing of all.
I totally do this too, say everything I do, and then end it with, oh and I stay home too. Why do we always make so many excuses? Being a mom is HARD WORK!
Right? JUST a mom? Like JUST doing the hardest job ever all day every day!
It's funny. I immediately read this post and was like "just a mom?" Though not one myself, I always admired mine. She did work out of the home twice when I was a child and has since my sister and I were older, but she always accomplished so much when she was "just a mom." She made clothes, kept a spotless house, always had dinner on the table at 5 pm. The list goes one. She was amazing. If I'm ever a mom, I hope I have it as together as she did/does.
Exactly! Being a mom encompasses SO much! No mom is just a mom!
I don't mind saying it anymore. It's hard work, especially with 4 kids!
I use to be a stay at home at one point then I couldn't do it anymore because I didn't have the adult interaction. But I would do it again because my kids are at the age where their at school and I wanna be that mom that gets to do things at their child's school. Sometimes with work I can't do that.
I keep thinking that I will want to return to work when all my children are in school but then I think about how I wouldn't be able to do school events!
I love this! I too am "just a mom" and it's a shame that so many people don't understand how important of a job that it is.
No one is JUST a mom 🙂 Most important job!
This is wonderful & accurate! Dedicating your life to helping a child & nurturing is the most beautiful thing in life 🙂
Thank you and I agree completely!
I find myself feeling like I need to say "I write freelance articles" part time. However, you are so right. Saying I'm 'Just a mom' makes it seem so insignificant when it is really so important.
Okay, I am totally your newest follower. I absolutely love your blog, and you and your little sweetheart are adorable! I totally understand where you are coming from with this post. It can be so hard to feel like you are maintaining an identity at times – but yes, being a mommy is the most important job of all! 🙂
Yay! Thank you so much!!!