Bringing Home the Bacon Bits

I was asked today what I do for a living, and I found myself floundering for a moment not knowing which job title to give. A year ago I would have replied, ”Stay-at-home Mom,” without blinking an eye. But sometime in the past year, I became an owner of a construction company, an interior designer, and an aspiring writer, all on top of my career as a stay-at-home mom. My brief blunder caused me to step back and take note of all of the women I know that are working two and three jobs while raising children. The more faces that crossed my mind, the more I realized that everyone I know moonlights on their job as a stay-at-home mom these days. On-line business owners, tutors, aerobics instructors, seamstresses, and waitresses, all fighting for the survival of their families in a time filled with slim profits, coupons, and dwindling bank accounts.

Then, I began to think of all of the success stories that have happened in the face of adversity. They surround me every day. The small victories of purchasing back to school clothes for the kids, or simply keeping the bills paid for another month, small victories that keep families clean, fed, safe, and together. When the storms of life are swirling around us and fighting for survival is the only goal, it’s difficult to stop working long enough to look around and appreciate all that hard work. So, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud my fellow moonlighting stay-at-home moms for their perseverance in holding life together while life seems to tear itself apart at every opportunity. Even as I’m writing this, I’m waiting for water to boil on the stove for supper, kicking a soccer ball back and forth across the kitchen floor with my little boy, paused once to answer the business line, and now I’m looking around my normally clean house at paperwork piling up on table tops and the accumulating dust bunnies in the corners. So, what’s a girl to do? When does a working stay-at-home mom get the 5 minutes necessary to sit down and congratulate herself on a job well done? I’m declaring the time is now! I challenge all of you amazingly strong women out there to celebrate in some small way today. I will be celebrating today with a new shade of lipstick and some stolen writing time on my front porch!

We moms need to remember that we are worth being taken care of too. And, while my contribution to the household may be more like bringing home the bacon bits, than bringing home the bacon, we’re happy to have those delicious salad toppings every night at supper time! So, be proud of your many job titles! Brag with pride about your list of official and unofficial job titles, and celebrate everyday with every success.