Being a mom should be easy, shouldn’t it?
When I was single, I never thought that being a mom is hard. In fact, I used to think that being a mom should be easy.
Because as a mom, you don’t need to show up at a particular time as when you do at your workplace for your 9-5 job, and you don’t have a boss who always gives you more work, but the number on your paycheck stays the same every single month.
Also, you don’t have to deal with some colleagues who can be toxic to you. Plus, I used to think that being a mom doesn’t give you a headache of commuting and big spending on work clothes. All you have to do is play with your cute bundle of joy while you stay in pajamas.
Boy, how I was wrong. Because being a mom is hard. Especially when you’re a working mom. Keep reading for why being a mom the hardest job.
Moms are stronger than they think they are
First, being a mom is hard because you need more physical stamina to carry on looking after your child/children, no matter how tired you are.
One scenario can be like this. You have to wake up in the middle of the night because your little one is having a nightmare. Later in the morning, you have to make sure your child is ready for school, although she’s having a tantrum, and you’re still sleepy.
Then when you’re busy at work during the day, you have to ask your boss for permission to leave work early so that you can rush to pick up your child at school because she had a falling accident. Or, because she became ill. So you have to take her home or to a doctor. Afterward, if you have more than one child, you have to go back to school to pick up your other child/children.
And then you have to get dinner ready and feed the whole family. When that’s done, you also have to make sure you spend time with your child/children and do any pending housework at the same time. So you’re bouncing here and there until bedtime.
Unfortunately, it’s not your bedtime.
You can not go to sleep just yet because your unwell child needs your care. After that, just when you thought you’re ready to go to sleep, your little one is having a nightmare again. And the story continues.
Long hours work with no monetary gain
Second, being a mom is hard because it requires us to be ready 24/7, unlike a 9-5 job that has pretty much-fixed working hours. With a 9-5 job, you start at the same time, and you finish at the same time. You don’t have to stretch your working hours if your circumstances don’t fit in.
Even if you need to do extra work, your boss has to arrange it in advance so that you can sort out your childcare and any other things that can be scheduling problems.
However, your 9-5 job gives you a paycheck at the end of the month. While as a mom, you don’t get any monetary gain. In fact, you have more expenses to pay.
Having said that, as a mom, you get the best gain that no other jobs can give you, which is your children’s smiles and hugs. Something that can energize you after a sleepless night, when you still have to go out to work and come back home only to find more work to do.
You also get the most sincere love that nobody can give you when your child comes home from school to tell you that he missed you the whole time he was at school.
Your children do notice what you do
Although you may not think that what you’re doing is noticed —let alone appreciated— your kids do notice.
Some time ago, I was taken to A&E (Accident and Emergency) due to my gastric problem that caused breathless palpitations. Both of my boys were very stressed and worried. They told my sister in law, “Mom’s not well because she’s too tired. She never stops. She’s always doing something. Working outside and at home”. When my sister-in-law shared this with me, I could do nothing but cry.
Being a mom has some requirements too
Third, being a mom is hard because it takes endless patience, perseverance, resilience, and tolerance. Especially when you’re working as well.
Because when your energy has been drained to a lower level than zero, but you still have to make sure you treat your child as a human— not a doll or a robot— you need all these qualities.
Even if you feel like you’re falling apart after a hectic day at work, followed with endless housework. But you know what, the smiles and hugs from your children will cheer you up and give you an energy boost.
Being a mom is an eternal occupation
Last but not least, being a mom is hard because it’s a permanent job. You can not just drop and quit even if you feel like giving up. Like when you want to leave your current job that you hate, so you can get another job that you like.
Once you become a mom, you will be a mom forever. From the moment you carry your baby in your tummy until she is born and becomes a child, and she grows into an adult, and then she becomes a mom herself.
But just like anything in life, it takes hard work in the process to get good results.
So, if being a mom is the hardest work you have ever done and will ever do, the result should be the best and most rewarding thing that you’ll ever get to do, shouldn’t it?
Now, do you still think being a mom is the hardest job then?
Author Bio
Devy D. owns and writes Thousands Of Miles Away, a lifestyle blog for women who relocated to a foreign land. Her topics revolve around self-improvement, motherhood, pregnancy, life with kids, and food.
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