Just Mom

Ok that's it. In 6 hours when my alarm is blaring telling me it's time for another day, I know I'm going to regret staying up to do this... but with all the other things I've got to do before bed anyway, holding my tongue isn't one I want to add to the list tonight.

So... here goes....
(steps up on soap box a little regretfully knowing I should never step up on a soap box emotional and deliriously tired)

Lately my Facebook and Pinterest have been filled with articles about the stay at home mom; how much they do, how awesome they are, how tired they must always be, how little they're appreciated, how much harder their job is than any other job. Like a dummy, I read every single article despite the fact that I am not a stay at home mom. I actually agree with most of what is written in the articles, but there are some pointed, exclusive words that offend me.  Those words?  Stay at home. And that's what I'm here to address.  It's about time we get rid of those words.

The last article/blog/whatever I read (the one that threw me up on this soapbox) informed me of the hardest job in the world. Want to take a guess at what it is?

Stay at home mom.

Alright then.  Thanks.  That's great for us working moms. Our job didn't make the cut. I guess what those kind people told us 6 weeks post partum as we went back to work was right, "Somebody else is going to raise our kids."

Awesome.

I wish I had listened to those kind people 2.5 years ago. I could've saved a whole lot of effort and energy. Oh well. Now that it's been confirmed over and over and over again on the internet, let me just sit my big working mom butt down and take a nap.  My job is easy.

Oh wait... I just got off work and now there's a little one to pick up from daycare and feed and reassure that even though I didn't spend every second of the day with her, I wish I could have. There's reprogramming to do.  Every bad habit Little Johnny shared at daycare must be broken quickly before it's too late.  Every time out of the day must be addressed.  Every good deed of the day must be recognized and praised.  Then there's laundry to do. Dishes to wash. Floors to scrub. Toys to pick up. A child to bathe and read to and cuddle and love. Spaghetti to wash out of MY hair.  Oh hey... the last bit of that sounds really familiar. Oh wait... That's because I just read that list of to dos in the stay at home mom praise article.

Imagine that.

Stay at home moms and working moms doing equally difficult tasks!  Huh.  Maybe us working moms need a little praise too.  Maybe there's no need to exclude us in your sweet little 'stay at home mom' article.

You want to know what the REAL hardest job in the world is?

Being a mom.

Did you catch that?

Not a stay at home mom.

Not a working mom.

Just a mom.

There's no need to differentiate when you're praising and recognizing the hard work moms do, because we all do the work.  Praise and recognize us all. We all have our battles. It's time they are all appreciated.  Equally.  Not just the ones that stayed home.  

So, to moms:

You're awesome. All of you. Those that work. Those that stay home. If you're present and trying every day as hard as you possibly can whether you mess up occasionally or are the definition of perfection, you, my dear, are awesome. You are appreciated, and what you do is recognized. Keep it up. And ignore any article/blog/whatever that excludes you. You're too good for it anyway.