Parenting on Commission

When you are standing in a crowded elevator it is impossible to avoid hearing private conversations.  I have overheard things that made me smile or laugh and I have listened as the jerk next to me argued with his girlfriend.  This week I heard a young woman say, "Being a mother is a thankless, painful, job and you never get paid". I didn't get a chance to respond to her comment.  Right on cue, as if to say "Amen", a bell sounded, doors opened and half the group filed out into the lobby.  I wanted to tell her she was wrong about a few things.

Yes, when you are a parent you will feel pain and you will feel it in numerous ways.  Pain in your heart when your child is sick or hurting and there is not anything you can do to help them.  You will feel painfully tired and yearn for sleep but it will be years before you feel really rested again.  It's just part of the job.  There will be many times no one tells you "thank you" and yes, motherhood is most definitely a job.  So, watch the things your children DO instead of what they say.  Children unknowingly tell us "thank you" and "I love you" all the time, you just have to learn to notice. 

The young woman in the elevator was right about a few things but she was wrong about not getting paid.  I think someone forgot to tell her how the mom thing works.  The truth is, Mothers work on commission.  We don't get paid until the job is done and often that takes many, many years.  But.... Mother's also get benefits, generous bonuses, incentive's to do our best work and every now and then we get days off! 

When it is all said and done, if we have done our best work possible, we recieve payment for all those years of work.  That is the moment we realize the truth. Mother's are the wealthiest people on the planet. 

When you are standing in a crowded elevator it is impossible to avoid hearing private conversations.  I have overheard things that made me smile or laugh and I have listened as the jerk next to me argued with his girlfriend.  This week I heard a young woman say, "Being a mother is a thankless, painful, job and you never get paid". I didn't get a chance to respond to her comment.  Right on cue, as if to say "Amen", a bell sounded, doors opened and half the group filed out into the lobby.  I wanted to tell her she was wrong about a few things.

Yes, when you are a parent you will feel pain and you will feel it in numerous ways.  Pain in your heart when your child is sick or hurting and there is not anything you can do to help them.  You will feel painfully tired and yearn for sleep but it will be years before you feel really rested again.  It's just part of the job.  There will be many times no one tells you "thank you" and yes, motherhood is most definitely a job.  So, watch the things your children DO instead of what they say.  Children unknowingly tell us "thank you" and "I love you" all the time, you just have to learn to notice. 

The young woman in the elevator was right about a few things but she was wrong about not getting paid.  I think someone forgot to tell her how the mom thing works.  The truth is, Mothers work on commission.  We don't get paid until the job is done and often that takes many, many years.  But.... Mother's also get benefits, generous bonuses, incentive's to do our best work and every now and then we get days off! 

When it is all said and done, if we have done our best work possible, we recieve payment for all those years of work.  That is the moment we realize the truth. Mother's are the wealthiest people on the planet.