Attourney, Judge, Dietician, Cook and Chief Bottle Washer, Answering Service, Chauffeur, Nurse, Referee, Maid, Laundress, Decorator, Teacher, Personal Shopper, Mediator...

Those are just the few that I can pull off the top of my head right now and I think there are some pretty respectable careers mentioned here. And I worked 24/7. There was no coming home after an 8, 10, 12 or maybe even 14 hour day and kicking off my shoes and just laying back and relaxing. It was a non-stop cycle. Now I work full-time and I'm still a full-time MOM. The scheduling has become much more demanding and difficult. I miss the days when I was home when the kids got in, but they still seem to know that I'm here for them. When I read the following I smiled, really smiled and said way to go. I wish I had thought of it when I was there. I don't know where it came from, but I'd like to dedicate it to all MOMs, especially the stay-at-home ones.

Mothers

A few months ago, when I was picking up the children at school, another mother I knew well rushed up to me. Emily was fuming with indignation.

"Do you know what you and I are?" she demanded.
Before I could answer - and I didn't really have one handy - she blurted out the reason for her question. It seemed she had just returned from renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office. Asked by the woman recorder to state her "occupation", Emily had hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a mother?"
"Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "I'm a mother."
"We don't list 'mother' as an occupation...'Housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically."
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient and possessed of a high-sounding title like, 'Official Interogator' or 'Town Registrar'.
"And what is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it, I do not know. The words simply popped out.
"I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words. Then, I stared with wonder as my pompous pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"
Coolly, without a trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working on my Masters (the whole darned family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day(24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are in satisfaction rather than just money."
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants - ages 13, 7 and 3. And upstairs, I could hear our new experimental model (six months) in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt triumphant. I had scored a beat on bureaucracy. And I had gone down on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another......."

What a glorious career!

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