Family Friday
Guest post by JJ
I remember hearing "She Works Hard For The Money" on a regular basis when I was about seven years old, when my mom had the song on her workout cassette. Yes, cassette.
I'm not sure if there have ever been truer words spoken, or for that matter, sung. I recently returned to work part time after being home with my son for a year and a half. Making this decision was not an easy one, especially knowing that my son will most likely be our only child and I want to savor every moment with him. But life gets in the way, and working becomes a necessity. Although I had hoped to remain at home with him full time, with the recent economic changes we made a family decision that I need to return to work to help with costs.
I felt very overwhelmed starting the job search again: refreshing my resume, writing a cover letter and the whole art of searching for jobs for which I was qualified. I kept thinking, "Why can't I put my job as a mom at the top of my resume?" I know the description would look a little something like this:
Mother to Active, Lovable Boy, February 2009 - Current
- Manage diaper changes with ease
- Direct home responsibilities efficiently
- Works well under pressure
- Can work on multiple tasks with very little sleep
I wonder what kind of responses I would get if I did list this as a job on my official resume. I would have more courage to do so now that I have secured a job, but it is a shame that there isn't more of an acceptance for the title, "Mom" when we place so much importance of titles like CEO and CFO. I do wish that the corporate world would place more importance on the skills parents use.
I am still trying to figure out how to balance the job I have when I walk out the door, and the job that I have 24/7. I consider myself a very professional, hard working person--so when I feel like I am not doing a good job in one area of my life, it usually affects the other areas. As I am still learning a lot at my job, I find myself getting distracted when I am at home thinking about the responsibilities that are waiting for me when I go back the next day. In my job as an office manager, I am constantly using Excel to organize, and I find myself wanting to edit those spreadsheets. But I also feel myself worrying about my son most of the time when I am at work; not so easy to organize his day-to-day activities in an Excel spreadsheet!
My husband often complains that there is not an "off" switch for my brain...but I know I am not the only one who feels she is in constant "thinking" mode based on conversations with my best friend and other girl friends, "Did I put enough diapers in his backpack?" "Did I remember to pay the heating bill?"
How do you deal with this constant brain activity? How about the next time you feel yourself getting wrapped up in a myriad of thoughts, start singing Donna Summer's lyrics and remember that even though we may not get a paycheck for being moms, our rewards are far greater. Being able to watch my son say a new word almost daily and watching him light up when I walk in the door from work helps me remember that I am rewarded daily for being a mom, and when it comes to balancing work and home, I just remember to do the best I can within a 24 hour period.
JJ is a mom, wife and part-time office manager based in North Carolina. You can find her blogging at Reproductive Jeans.
Photo by exquisitur via Flickr.
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