Okay Ladies of Decent, for the record, being a homemaker, housewife or stay at home mom is a job and doesn’t diminish a woman’s worth. Having a job outside the home does not give you more status than Susie who works tirelessly to provide a home for her family. And before you say it, I know you do the same things she does and no one gives you any extra credit for being able to 40-50 hours a week work and wash your own clothes. Noted and appreciated.

Susie’s day starts like most mothers. She struggles to leave her bed. Padding her way to the bathroom and stepping on some toy or foreign object someone has forgotten to pick up. She silently curses but relishes the fact she can use the bathroom unaccompanied. Then it happens, she begins making a mental list of everything she must accomplish today. She begins giving herself a pep talk about how fortunate she is to be able to stay home with the kids, but in the back of her mind she wonders if she should have gone back to work after Bobby was born. Then she reminds herself work for her means she’d be working to pay a babysitter. It makes no sense. But she would likke to see a paycheck, have a break from the kids or even have an adult conversation. Oh, well. She buries those thoughts again and heads into the kids room. Luckily they are still asleep. (It’s a good day!) She heads to the kitchen and makes lunch for Lucy and gets started on breakfast for Bobby. Then Bobby suddenly wakes up because Mommy is busy and her real job begins.

Sometimes, we as women aren’t so supportive of others women’s choices. I don’t know why some believe working inside the home as a mom isn’t a job. But it is in fact, a job and a hard job. Rarely do I run into a stay-at-home mom who looks refreshed and has tons of time to sit and eat Bon-bons on the sofa while watching her favorite soap opera. Instead, she’s bone-tired and sometimes unsatisfied.

It’s easy for others to tell her that that’s the choice she made when she had kids. Yes, it was a choice. But just like anyone who decides to go back to work instead of staying home, the choice is her own. She’s not less of a superwoman nor is she unemployed. She just doesn’t get a paycheck.