This morning I read a Facebook post about how a working mother wishes she could sleep until noon and not have to do anything all day, like stay-at-home moms. It confused me! I'm a stay-at-home mom and that's not how it goes at all. Then, immediately under that post, I saw another regarding a stay-at-home mother who wished she could go to work, to have a break once in a while. That confused me as well. Neither one of those statements were very accurate.
Let's talk about breaks. Seriously! Moms, whether working in the home or away, don't get many breaks.
I remembered back to a conversation I recently had, while filling out some paperwork. A lady asked me "Do you work?" I said "Oh yes, I'm a maid, record keeper, homeschool teacher, organizer, cook, and mom." I laughed as saying it. She was not amused in the least bit. She responded to me "I have you know, I work all day long and still have to go home and do what you do." Ouch! That stung.
Was I being insensitive to the mothers that work outside the home? Was I not seeing the sacrifices she was making? Honestly, probably not!
Was she being insensitive to me, the one who works at home? Could she not see the sacrifices I was making? Again, probably not!
Did it matter?
Yes!
I guess the magic word, in my opinion, is RESPECT! Although our lifestyles were different, we had a common bond. It's each persons choice to choose the option right for them and their situation. We shouldn't question it, we should respect it. It always seems to be a competition between the stay-at-home moms and the outside-the-home moms.
It's not!
Please don't make it so.
There are so many sacrifices in each. What all moms do, regardless if it's by choice or not, is work and make sacrifices
. I imagine about all mothers have had feelings of wanting the other option at one point or another. When a mother works away from her home, she is living a lifestyle different from the stay-at-home mom and vice versa. There is sacrificing going on in each very different situation. It would be silly for me to label each one, but please understand there will be sacrifices no matter what option. One thing I know for sure, is that both love their children very much. That is the common bond!
