She Did Not Just Say……

There is nothing more clearly etched in my memory than the day that my children were born.  They don’t call it labor because it is a walk in the park and the job did not end when I pushed those babies into the world.  Not a chance! It was then that we started making the hard choices.  The first decision as parents my husband and I made was monumental. He would continue to support our family financially, and I would stay home with our children.  I would be the one to wake every two hours to feed a towheaded baby that was born two months premature because he would not wake himself when hungry.  It would take an hour to coax him to take an ounce of formula and then reset the clock and bounce back up and do it again.  I walked the floor with colic, washed ten billion loads of laundry, shopped, prepared meals, maintained a clean house, and when my son turned two conceived again.

Our second child arrived with a bang, and my work load increased.  Our daughter was born with upper obstructive apnea.  Anytime she slept, her breathing ceased.  She wore a monitor that alerted her father and me that she was not breathing.   A quick flick on the bottom of her feet would start her breathing.  I was on full time duty during the week, and Mike would take weekends.  When sleep deprivation was at its worst, my mother would come and send us both to bed before we collapsed.  The daughter was up all night and the son was up during the day.  Meals still were prepared, laundry was washed, the house was sorta cleaned, and our children thrived.

The job was tough.  You can only imagine my outrage when Hilary Rosen, a Democratic lobbyist and woman, stated that Anne Romney was not qualified to address women’s economic issues because she was a wealthy, stay-at-home mother who "never worked a day in her life."  Seriously….as I type this post, I  am thoroughly disgusted. It is obvious that Ms. Rosen has never ever held the position of "stay at home" mother.  The job is and will always be hard work.

Ms. Rosen’s statement also makes me feel incredibly sorry for her.  If she does not understand how incredibly difficult the job of being a "stay at home" mom is then she could not possibly understand the rewards of that smile when you walk into a room to greet your child from sleep or when you read a book and snuggle close.  The wonder of watching them take their first steps or say mama or dada the first time is amazing.  Being there for skinned knees and smashed fingers kissing them and making them better is the best.  Watching them play with a laundry basket or work a puzzle for the first time is amazing. Knowing that all their firsts are shared with you and are forever etched in your memory is priceless.  

To know that they are the incredible people they are today because of the sacrifice their father made thirty years ago in allowing me to accept the job of being their full time mother leaves me incredibly satisfied and content.  My job as a "stay-a-home" mom was what made me good at my current career of teacher.  I love what I do for a living, but my job will always be that of mom.  That job is the hardest I have ever worked in my entire life.  It continues to be hard, but it will be my job until I draw my last breath.  I love the job of being their mom.  My hat is tipped to all the moms out there who have the toughest job ever….that of stay-home-mom.  It is a tough job, and I am so glad that you are doing it.

Lora