The Amazing Profession of Motherhood
Where would we be without mothers? In my opinion, Motherhood is
very special profession. Motherhood also has very unique and
demanding characteristics that are frequently misunderstood. Let
me tell you why I believe that motherhood is an amazing and
special profession.
Motherhood is the most important profession in the world.
Mothers are entrusted, and are almost totally responsible for
the health, care, training, morals, security, emotional
strengths, attitudes, social understanding discipline, and
learning success of their children. Collectively, mothers
control the development and growth of almost all children in the
world, who eventually mature into adults. The relationships
children and even adults have with their mothers shape who they
become as adults. The results of the efforts of mothers are
universal, extremely powerful, everlasting, and extremely
important to every person on the globe. Unfortunately,
motherhood is not given the respect and honor it deserves, as
the world shaping profession it is.
Motherhood is a very difficult and diverse profession. Mothers
are required to possess the knowledge, practice the skills, and
perform the duties of so many different life functions that it
would be impossible to list them all. Here are but a few.
Mothers must successfully perform as nurses, cooks,
nutritionists, teachers, trainers, educators, coaches,
therapists, disciplinarians, financial advisors, protectors,
cleaning specialists, transportation specialists, sports
enthusiasts, clothing and appearance specialists, peacemakers,
mediators, and spiritual advisors. Wow!
Mothers are given little, if any, prior formal training. A vast
majority of the knowledge, skills, and experience of performing
all of the important motherhood life functions are learned ON
THE JOB. I know of no college or university that teaches or
trains mothers. They must learn motherhood on their own, and by
following their instincts. Other professions like attorneys,
medical doctors, and dentists, must attend anywhere from
six-to-ten years of additional education after high school to be
qualified to begin their profession. Yet, mothers are required
to be fully knowledgeable of all motherhood requirements and
operate at almost full speed from virtually the very beginning
of motherhood, with very little, if any, training.
Motherhood is a non-income producing profession. Even though
mothers perform the most important profession in the world, they
rarely, if ever, generate monetary income from their motherhood
efforts. Mothers are not paid to perform their multitude of very
important duties and activities. Mothers are rarely paid to
change diapers, prepare meals, or train their children. Mothers
are frequently supported by their husbands, who are expected to
generate enough income to pay for their needs. Unfortunately
today, there appears to be an increasing trend of expecting
mothers to continue performing their full time motherhood
professional duties and also work at an income-producing job to
generate money.
The time and energy demands on mothers diminish with time. As
the youngest child grows up, the time demands, effort demands,
mental involvement, and personal contact by mothers with their
children will shrink. Motherhood with young babies is almost a
24 hours, seven days a week profession. Think of the relief
mothers feel when their youngest baby finally sleeps through the
night for the first time, without awakening for feeding or to
have a diaper changed. The job requirements of motherhood are
greatly reduced, as their youngest child goes off to school.
Time and energy demands on mothers diminish even more as their
youngest child continues to grow and attend even more out of the
house activities. Eventually, mothers will be faced with an
empty nest as the purposes of their motherhood vocation depart.
Mothers feel frustrated in their quest for a new profession.
Mothers frequently feel stymied when they seek new careers. They
feel inadequate because they have been out of the work force for
so long, or because they feel they have less education than they
think is necessary, or because they are older than other
potential entry level workers, or because finding and applying
for jobs and can be a daunting and confusing process.
Unfortunately, the normal Human Resources culture of the
corporate world and the owners of small business don