The Invisible Mommy
On some days as a stay at home mom I feel invisible. What I mean by that is when I was in the “working world” I had goals that were analyzed by my boss on a daily basis. When I met my goals I was praised and more often than not when the often unobtainable goal was not met I was told that my job might be in jeopardy. I was fortunate to never lose my job, I left the “working world” when I had a baby to enter the all encompassing working world of being a stay at home mom. Now do not get me wrong I love my job and I love my four foot tall boss who is about to start kindergarten. But I would love nothing more than not to feel that my work is invisible. Contrary to popular belief there is not a laundry fairy that swoops in late at night when my family’s clothes are dirty and magically puts them away clean. That same fairy does not also go grocery shopping and magically fill the refrigerator. The vacuum fairy also does not get those magic lines in the carpet my husband loves so much and don’t even get me started on the dust fairy. There is not a cook that shows up at my house and makes breakfast, lunch and dinner nor a service that cleans up the dog business from my yard (yes I recently received a flyer, there is such a business). There is not a taxi service that shows up to drive my child to their various activities or an event planner that plans those activities. A teacher has not shown up to review reading, writing and arithmetic with my child, I love that I can do that with them I am sure that I have forgotten to mention a few daily things that we stay at home moms do but although it is the most wonderful job in the world it is also the most involved. I am no longer responsible for my “working world” goals of my past; I am responsible for my child’s future. Don’t get me wrong my husband is great about recognizing what I do all day and he respects me for it but after he has a long day at work and comes home I am waiting for him to notice the lines in the carpet and he is exhausted and while he notices it is difficult for him to realize that is what is important to me to have noticed. So while on most days I feel invisible I love the visible difference that I can see that I am making in my child’s life and my home. I never thought that the lines in the carpet being noticed would be so important to me but they are. So if you know a stay at home mom make sure that today you let them know that their work is not invisible. I had better go, the laundry fairy just got here and my boss needs help with their crayons and the dishwasher fairy just let me know they are here to do the dishes.
