The Most Difficult Job in the World

I once told a friend, “being a journalist is one of the most difficult jobs in the world”, he smiled at me and answered “being a mom will be most definitely the hardest job in the world”, I smiled back and agreed.Looking back at this conversation I realize that even though I always knew being a mom comes with great responsibilities, I was far from imagining how hard it was going to really be… Being a mom does not only come with the challenge of raising a baby, it also comes with that of constantly facing your demons, fulfilling your potentials and going beyond yourself…

When it comes to mommies and work, all do not fit in one category… The way a mommy addresses work has a lot to do with her own personal baggage, her past experiences and her pereption of family life and her role in her children’s upbringing… I am sure there are too many categories to name, but inspired from my own personal struggle I am sure to be able to name four main ones: the mommies who previously worked and see work as a fundamental part of their individuality and existence, the mommies who never worked and do not want to miss on great career opportunities, the mommies who previously worked but perceive being a stay-at-home mom an equally important “job”, and the mommies who never worked but who couldn’t care less about working anyway… (note: these categories and this article in general does not address a woman’s work as a financial necessity for the family but only as a woman’s choice to achieve and thrive).

Not to be long, I currently belong to the third category. I have previously had a great work experience, I am sure it is quite short in the long line of a career as I only worked for two years, but it allowed to get a taste of the working woman’s life and of what I would be as a working wife and mother… And I was exhausted… I didn’t actually remember this until it once slipped from my husband’s mouth during a casual conversation, I was exhausted, between waking up early, catching commune, working hard, catching commune again, coming back to cooking, cleaning, etc. I was often drifting to sleep before my husband could even finish his “hunny I’m home”… The long work hours left me with no time to myself, being only a carefree couple, we were able to catch up a bit during the weekend, whether it is on sleep or together time… yet it wasn’t enough… Now that my baby is here, things are not much different I must confess, I think that the only thing that was taken out out of my old schedule is “catching commune”, other than that, being a stay-at-home mom is equally as tiring if not even more than being a working lad. The least I can say is that I am dreading adding a full time work to the current recipe, as my gut feeling tells me it’s gonna come out too salty, too spicy to even swallow a bite…

When I was young (and naïve, oh how naïve I was), I never imagined things will be so complicated. I always “knew” I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I felt, and still feel, that I have so much to give to my children, few hours a day just cannot be enough nor for me or for them… Today, I am still convinced that this is the case, but what the naïve immature me forgot to take under consideration was social pressure, family pressure and loneliness in the far far lands of immigration zone… Today, I have a very important decision to make… Some days, I feel it is not even mine to make, I often ask my lo what she thinks and wishes to God she could speak and help me stear our boat to shore… Today I have a very important choice to make and I am praying the Lord I will make the good one…