Motherhood Defined

I confess: I am not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom.


Muchos kudos to those of you who are. I am awed to know some rock-star mommies who stay home and really invest themselves in their children each and every day -- from playgroups and music classes to home art projects on rainy days. For a long time I felt like I was supposed to be a super mom like them and do all these things and more, and when I couldn't live up to that, I felt like a bit of a failure. I LOVE being a Mom, and it took me a long time to realize that I can't compare myself to other moms.  I am not the mom I thought I would be, but I am a great mom. I am Adam's mom. I'm just not stay-at-home-mom material.


The following article has been floating around Facebook recently, and it struck such a chord with me. Finally someone summed up motherhood perfectly and explains why motherhood is absolutely a full time job. (And perhaps why I get more sense of accomplishment at the office -- and that's ok, too.)


'Why don't friends with kids have time?' 

CAROLYN HAX: TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT 
WASHINGTON POST
Thursday, May 24, 2007 

Dear Carolyn: Best friend has child. 
Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. 
Me (no kids): What'd you do today?
Her: Park, play group ... 

OK. I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners ... I do all those things, too. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events); I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy, but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a contest ("my life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks have the same questions. 
— Tacoma, Wash. 

Dear Tacoma: 
     Relax and enjoy. You're funny. 
     Or, you're lying about having friends with kids. 
     Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them. 
     I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed. 
     So, because it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, cleaned, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces checkout-line screaming. 
     It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15. 
     It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier. 
     It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends. 
     It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense. It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything — language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything. 
     It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand, or keep your snit to yourself. 


To my friends with more than one kid, wow! And to those of you who work at home WITH your kids at home, too? You're my hero. I think most of my readers are parents, but to those who aren't, I apologize for ever inconveniencing you by rescheduling around nap times, meeting early for dinner, or driving out to my house because I have all the baby gear here. And to all those friends of mine who've shared their baby gear while I was visiting you at your house, Thank you! You made it easy and super convenient to visit YOU (and you were probably rescheduling me around YOUR child's nap time, too!). Believe me, I get it.