Apr
Would you apply for a job that asked for the following qualifications?
NEW FULL-TIME POSITION – RECRUITING NOW!
24hr shifts
No pay
No vacations
No sick days
Applicant must be proficient in the following skills:
Healthy cooking
Cleaning
Hygiene
Multi-tasking
Entertainment
Budgeting
Conflict resolution
Stress management
After-school tutoring
Applicant must:
Be organized
Be patient
Be timely
Be responsible
Be dedicated
Be attentive
Be caring
Work well alone or in a team
The job is of course, that of a full-time, stay-at-home parent.
It really annoys me when I hear people speaking in a derogatory way about stay-at-home parents.
“Well, she graduated 3 years ago, but now she’s just a housewife…”
Or
“He had such a great career ahead of him. It’s a shame he’s just a stay-at-home dad…”
I’m ashamed to say that I was once a person who believed that being a stay-at-home mom was not a real job. I was once influenced by a perception that such women were lazy and opted to stay at home in their pajamas instead of pursuing “fulfilling” careers.
Today, I see that nothing could be further from the truth. After having experienced it myself, I can safely say that being a stay-at-home mom is a career within itself…and we don’t even get paid.
We don’t get paid in money, of course. We get paid in baby laughter and tickle fights. We get paid in seeing a human being – who was once nothing more than a bean sized speck in our tummies – grow into a well adjusted, smart and healthy individual.
Being a full-time parent requires the same amount of organization and dedication as any other job on the market, if not more. It is a job that is both physically demanding and requires a high mental capacity. A good parent can also take their job seriously by reading books, going to classes and taking online seminars. Trust me; we also get tons of hands on experience! Parents might not have a certificate to hang on the wall, but all good parents have a well earned Phd in child rearing.
When one holds a work position that they are passionate about, they always envision the end results. If you are the CEO of a company or store owner, you hope that the company will have big profits. If you are an artist, you hope that your art will sell. If you are a teacher, you hope to inspire your students.
But a parent...When you are a parent, you hope to build a human being - a new soul into becoming a complete and wholesome individual. You are building a person. What accomplishment could possibly be more important, more incredible than that? To contribute to society by raising a complete and healthy person with good character and ethics…That is quite something.
It’s a shame that we let others convince us that what consists of a real job is the amount of money we rake up and the amount of people we have in our network. A real job is determined by the hours, the hard-work and the dedication we put into it.
So take a moment today to thank and show appreciation to a stay-at-home parent in your life, and please, next time you meet a woman who has left school or her job to be a mother, don’t refer to her as “just a housewife”, but rather a “Gosh darn superhero” .
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