Due to what some say is just the normal progression of time, but to what I am convinced is some kind of worm hole in the space time continuum caused by a cranky alien superspecies, my youngest daughter is now almost 1 years old. This means that I have now spent a full post partem year crunching numbers and racking my brains, trying to figure out how I can quit my job and stay home with her. I keep thinking that there's some secret that SAHMs have and that if I could just figure out what it is I could join their club. The closest I've been able to figure out is that it has something to do with money...
Alas, the SAHM life is not to be mine. So, in honor of Mother's Day, my daughter's birthday and my own sanity I am writing a list of the top 10 reasons why being a working mom is awesome. This is, of course, in no way meant as a put down to SAHMs. I could write a book about why it would be awesome to be one of those. This is more just a pep talk for us wage slaves and my first step towards embracing this lifestyle that fate/the capitalist pigs who have turned our country into a consumption machine/the cranky alien superspeccies, has thrust upon me.
So here goes:
1) Long-term financial parenting:
Does the word long-term have a hyphen? I've never really understood hyphens. Anyway, I like the idea that when my children grow up I will most likely be in a financial position to help them, and their children, get ahead by helping them to pay for things like college, grad school, a house, etc.
2) I want to avoid soylent green fantasies:
Hopefully having a job now will allow me to be better prepared for retirement. That way I won't be a burden to my kids when I'm old and they won't have to spend their free time dreaming about euthanizing me and turning me into food.
3) I can provide my kids with enriching experiences:
By not dropping out of the work force for a few years I am able to earn more money in the short term that I can use to give our kids experiences that we otherwise couldn't afford - like sleepaway camps, vacations, classes and pool memberships (of course, not all at the same time, what do I look like the 1%?).
4) I am in touch with a larger world:
Going to work allows me to spend time with, and understand, people, problems and situations that I wouldn't be aware of if I were home all day. True, most of the people are jerks who fart on the metro, but still.
5) I am in the driver's seat, or at least a very vocal passenger who is reaching over and steering:
I don't have to ask anyone to provide me or my children with anything. I have the means to do it myself.
6) I am making the world a better place:
My job helps the environment, which helps all of us.
7) I am a role model for my kids:
I don't mean in terms of being a professional, but rather in terms of improving the world and in sacrificing to help my family.
8) I don't want my family to burst into flames:
I've been told, by a certain husband who shall remain nameless, that I can be a bit intense at times. So its probably a good thing that I'm not focussed on my family 100% at all times.
9) Mandatory Daddy/daughter time:
When I'm busy working my husband gets to run the show and spend time with the kids. They get to bond in ways that they wouldn't if I were in charge of the kids 24/7.
10) I don't get sick of my kids
They get me sick, of course, from their daycare germs, but I am never sick of them. I have my grown-up time where I get to curse, eat without being interrupted, and sit quietly and think every week so that when I am with them I am always (or almost always) happy to be with them.
So happy Mother's Day to all the working mommies out there. You are doing great things for your family! And happy mother's day to all the SAHMs out there too! We all deserve breakfast in bed.
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