Motherhood is a real job. Of course, in this country, we don’t treat it like that. But it is nothing short of a “real job.”
It took me a long time to realize this.
I wanted to be a great mom. An impeccable mom. That meant being available for my children’s needs, putting them first, bending over backward to make sure they had what they needed.
Seems like a job to me.
So why did I feel guilty taking a break from it? If I was at an office job, no one would expect me to sit at my desk for 15 hours straight every day and never ever taking a vacation day – or even a weekend off.
If motherhood was a job I’d have to clock in and out of, I would have amassed so much overtime and be on the verge of burnout so regularly that my bosses would have sat me down and demanded that I use some of my paid leave.
But since my “bosses” are 5 and 3, it doesn’t quite work like that. I need to be the boss, watching how long I’ve been on the clock and giving myself a break when needed.
*picks up imaginary glass* So here’s to us, ladies. The mothers who are up at 3 a.m. checking on a crying child, the mothers who race to daycare everyday to make sure their kids aren’t the last ones at pickup. The mothers who can’t leave Target without buying their kid a lil’ something from the $1 bins. The moms who work two jobs to put food on the table. We’ve earned the right to put ourselves first.
*raises glass* To us.
Cheers to that! Motherhood is a very demanding job. It’s easy to get lost and forget to take a break to recharge your batteries. But we all need to find time to relax and just breathe, even if it’s just for a couple of hours!
I have learned to put me first sometimes. Its ok to buy myself shoes instead of a new outfit for my daughgter. *raises glass* here’s to me!
Now at 23, I’m coming to coming understand that:
A) Motherhood never ends. You don’t care less because the kids are grown; my Ma always says you’re most likely to care MORE. My Ma and I were sitting, watching my 5 year old niece play one day, and she looked at me and said, “That’s how I see you. When you wanna get behind the wheel of a car, or go to college six hours away from home or get on a plane by yourself, I panic, because in my eyes you will always be my little girl.”
2) Parents should be cut some slack for their past mistakes because they had NO IDEA what they were doing. Parenting is hard, and every child, even between siblings, is different. So let go of the long list of “what Ma and Dad screwed up on” you made growing up. There will come a day when you realize that *GASP* your parents were human. They did the best they could with what they had at the time.
Cheers! Thank you for reminding us that it is okay to take a break now and again.
Can we raise TWO glasses? We deserve it.