Mother’s Work

Nursing the baby. Cooking for the baby. Feeding the baby. The constant diaper and outfit changes. The play time. The schedule coordination. The doctor's visits. The tear wiping. It's all work. Possibly the most important work I will ever do and yet something inside me rejects its importance.

Some little shitty voice tells me that though nursing, clothing, washing, cooking for, diapering, and feeding my babe is important, it's not AS important as my work outside of the home. It'll never be as important as the work that brings in cold hard cash.

I meet this shitty voice as I'm playing with Zanthe on the kitchen floor. "You should be writing a blog post. Or working on your book. Or finding speaking gigs!"

I meet this voice when I'm rushing around the market or making Zanthe lunch. "What the f*ck are you doing with your life?!? Life is short and you're going to waste it trying to coax a 9-month-old to take one more freakin' bite? There are lives to change and success to be garnered. Go get it, girl!"

For months I've thought this voice was actually mine yet the truth is, this is NOT my voice.

This is the voice of patriarchy. The voice that has devalued women's work and labor for centuries.

This is the voice of capitalism. The voice that says I'm only as good as the amount of money I make. The voice that says if I'm not making money I'm not doing anything.

Today, let’s give back these beliefs to their rightful owners.

• Let’s GIVE BACK the belief that the time we spend with our child is, in some way, wasteful.

• Let’s GIVE BACK the belief that labor outside the home is more important than labor done within it.

• Let’s GIVE BACK the belief that the time we spend with our children it is us not challenging ourselves.

• Let’s GIVE BACK the belief that a dollar sign is the only sign of value.

• Let’s GIVE BACK the belief that the time we spend with our children is us not living up to our fullest potential.

• Let’s GIVE BACK the belief that a "working" mother is any one thing. If you're a mother, you're a WORKING mother.

Let’s give all these beliefs back and replace them with this simple truth:

All of the work we do, whether in the home or out of it, is valuable, important and absolutely needed.

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