Warning, I am stepping onto my soap box for a minute. Something I rarely do on the blog, but I felt it important to address.
I was reading a blog recently that described another mama as a full time mama and homemaker (aka stay at home mom), and for some reason this really bothered me. Am I not a full time mama because I don’t stay at home with my baby? No! I am still a mom while I am at work. I don’t stop being a mom while I am at work, not only that but I have to then balance my work and being a mom when I am home. So it is accurate to describe her as a full time mom, but really all moms are full time moms. Even if you share custody with someone else, you are still a mom even when the kids aren’t with you. And when your kids grow up and move out, you are still a full time mom. My mom is no less of a full time mom now that her kids all are married and out of the house, so why would a working mom not be considered a ‘full time mom’? Just be careful about how you perceive (and describe) other moms. I don’t think my job as a working mom is any harder than a job as a stay at home mom, but we both work very hard to be good mamas to our kiddos and it is a mistake to assume that just because a mom has to work she is not a full time mom. (I realize this other blogger meant no harm by saying this, but it is important to watch our vocabulary because words and phrases can begin to develop stigmas about working moms and stay at home moms)
I also wanted to share this article with you. I encourage you to read it if you or anyone you know is a mom who works outside the home. Just remember to be careful about what you say to others. 11 things never to say to a working mom
Okay stepping off my soap box.
I tend to take “titles” and “labels” with a grain of salt because one label is going to please one mom and another is going to make them angry. I am a work-outside-the-home mom myself and don’t think I’m made to be the stay-at-home type. Unless this other blogger was implying that working moms aren’t moms all the time, I’d understand it as a misunderstanding. The more I am engaged in the blogging world, the more I realize that every mom is the same. We love our kids to death, do anything for them, do anything to give them the best, and have to make sacrifices to do so.
I would agree with this, which is why I mentioned that I realize she didn’t mean any harm by this comment. But I do think we need to be careful not to glorify either SAHM or working moms (again I don’t think she was doing that either, it was just an honest description on her part). I just felt it important to point out that all moms are full time
I agree, we shouldn’t glorify either. Both are moms!