Our world is all about labeling and I’m having an identity crisis.
Organic. Free Range. Sugar free. Fat free. Flavor free.
Stay at home mom. Work at home mom. Working mom. Single Mom. Mom of 5 kids. Mom of an only child. Crunchy Mom. Mom of twins. Expecting mom. Cloth Diaper Mom. Pampers Only mom. Vegetarian Mom.
We find ourselves in these labels, but I think as moms we also get lost in them.
They overshadow what every mom truly is: a full-time mom.
No matter if you see your kids only on the weekends or you home school and spend every waking hour with your kids, we are all full-time moms.
Our children never leave us. We bring their smiles and diaper rashes everywhere we go. We wear their sleepless nights into the boardroom meeting or on our sales calls. My mom perfume smells of milk, peanut butter and diaper cream. Our minds are entrenched with what we are feeding them, how they are developing into little humans in the best possible way and whether they know they are loved.
We are all full-time moms.
You can’t escape it and it is exhausting. It swirls in our heads like a tornado. Working or stay-at-home, we all are up all night when our babies can’t sleep, or sitting in the doctor’s office when they catch the flu. We are planning first birthday parties and our hearts all melt with every sweet sweet smile they give us. Our daily to-do’s and responsibilities look different but despite where we spend our day, our hearts stay with those little humans.
We don’t think “the other side” understands. Stay at home moms feel that they spend all day in Toddler world, longing for adult conversation and searching for a purpose and appreciation. Working moms feel guilty for leaving their babies at daycare and loving their jobs that fulfill them, wondering if they are spending enough time with their kids, and rushing home to make bedtime for the necessary goodnight kiss.
We are all moms.
We all have worries and frustrations. Our days look different, but we make it work. We all make sacrifices, it’s never easy. We need to stop letting hashtags define us, #WAHM #SAHM or #WorkingMom, grow a respect for the every mom who is doing her best, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and recognize that we probably are all sleep deprived and in need of a big glass of wine.
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