Quite simply, motherhood is a job unto itself. On top of that, a huge number of moms leave their jobs at home in the morning only to go to another job — the one that pays the bills.
The struggles of a working mom are the type of thing that only a working mom can truly understand.
As a working mom of four, Liz Petrone from Syracuse recently shared her account of her morning routine on Facebook and nailed the daily struggle.
Liz does a great job of painting a detailed picture that all moms can relate to, and the rest of us can admire from afar.
From waking up before the sun rises to getting breakfast in her hair, you'd think this mom would be happy to see her children off on the school bus.
However, Liz makes it clear that the labor of love is one that's worth the struggle.
Keep reading to see what Liz has to say. It quickly becomes apparent why her words struck a chord.
Liz shared on September 20:
This morning I woke four sleepy humans. Some I gently patted, some I prodded, and one I pulled the covers off and tried to roll onto the floor when the pat and the prod fell short. I’m not proud of that last one.
I made five beds, one twice because someone snuck into it and tried to go back into sleep. It may have been me.
I took a shower and made myself look sort of human and flushed three toilets and fished one very wet pull-up out from under my bed.
I made two very strong cups of coffee.
I dressed one child and myself and told another that her "outfit" would probably get me arrested should I let her leave the house in it.
I reminded them all to brush their teeth. Four times. None did it. We're working on this.
I yelled "stop screaming! You'll wake the neighbors!" loud enough to wake the neighbors. Many, many times.
I drove to school once to drop the bigs off and back again a little later to drop off the stuff the bigs forgot.
I stood on the bus stop and waited for two more buses while trying in vain to fish the littles out of a neighbor's tree.
I watched them drive away with a wave and a throat lump and I walked back to my empty house.
I cleaned their breakfast out of my car and my kitchen and my hair.
I dismantled pillow forts and unhooked Paw Patrol underwear from table lamps and threw in a load of laundry and reapplied the lip gloss I’d left on four cheeks in goodbye kisses.
I fed and watered the dog and wiped down the counter and turned off the TV and the coffee maker and a hundred lights and locked up and fielded 12 text messages and 2 phone calls and 384 red lights.
All before 9:00am.
By the time I sit in my chair at work and fire up my computer, my Fitbit says I have walked 2.5 miles. All just to get us ready and out of the house. And if walking 2.5 mikes and not actually making it anywhere at all ain’t exactly what this stage of life looks like I don’t what is.
I don’t tell you this to look for sympathy. Not at all. I am lucky to have a job that affords me flexibility. I am lucky to have a job. I am lucky to have four healthy kids and not need to spend extra hours taking care of special needs or going to extra doctor’s appointments or managing an IEP with the schools. I am lucky to live in a culture where women can and do work freely outside of the home. I am lucky to be healthy enough myself to mostly manage all this.
No, I tell you this because if one more person says to me “wow, it sure must be nice to be able to waltz into work at 9:00am,” I am going LOSE IT.
To the working mamas, I feel you. I feel you so hard right now. But more than that, to ALL the mamas, I'm raising my cup of (now cold) coffee. You keep on doing you, sister, whatever that looks like.
Unless it looks like judgement. Ain't nobody got time for that ish. Some of us have work to do.
Make sure to SHARE this touching tribute with your working mom friends on Facebook!
