I became a mother long before I thought I would.
I was a kid and then all of the sudden, I was a mom. My career of, often invisible, around the clock work started right then and there.
We moved away from family and friends. Will was the only person I knew in the entire state and he had to work all the time. I was the only one I knew with a baby. At the time I didn’t know it, naivety was my second greatest blessing, but looking back i felt alone and embarrassed.
Everyone else was heading into corporate life after college and, although I took my job very seriously, when people asked me what I did for a living, I’d catch myself saying “oh, im just a mom right now.” As if being a mom is less than. As if all of the hours of all my days weren’t filled with the extremely important work of raising exceptional humans.
The other day we went to a birthday party and my girls were so gracious, outgoing, polite, kind, helpful etc. literally all of the good things you’d hope your kids would be. Just simply being incredible humans in the wild. They held their own and helped all of the babies + other kids. Used every single manner. Even politely declined sugar (!!!) People went out of their way to tell me how awesome they were. It was truly the proudest day of my life! It was my super-bowl.
I had an a-ha moment driving home from that party of wow, how could I ever let society’s narrative surrounding stay-at-home-moms convince me I was “just a mom.”
Eloise and Adeline are and will forever be my greatest accomplishments.
If you’re a working mom- I applaud you. If you have the luxury of staying at home with your kids around the clock- I applaud you. It’s lots of invisible work. No glamour. No promotions. No raises. A-lot of the time, no thank yous… but it’s without a doubt important work.
