Parent thesis

Speaking only for my gender I know one thing for sure. You aren’t born a mother. You grow into one, gradually. Not just by virtue of having the tools. And certainly not the second your offspring makes its entry into the world.
So don’t let those super moms fool you. It is a very tough job and most if not everyone works at it every single day.

 As someone once eager to complete a Ph. D in English Literature, I stopped short after my Masters. That was not because I wanted to have children. It was just because I decided to dive head on in to the working world. While I did juggle job and post graduate school for a few years until then, I felt it was time to give a career my all. The dream to complete my Doctorate soon got lost in the haze of things to do. Before I knew it the poems of Philip Larkin didn’t hold as much value as the timely visits to my children’s paediatrician.

Five years on with more than half a decade of full time mother hood under my belt, I’m wondering what my first job interview will be like. Can I say I have a Ph. D in motherhood? Am sure potential employers will expect me to receive a salary cut because I’ve not been a ‘productive’ member of society. Many would disagree, but they probably won’t be the ones signing the pay cheque.

Fortunately I have the freelance trump card to hold me in good steed. It has been a soaring sense of accomplishment to manage to work from home for all these years. While the bylines have helped pay for many of the bills, they’ve also stopped a lot of inquisitive questions from those most obsessed with what I did with my time. But most importantly, they’ve helped me keep those grey cells buzzing. Even though I wasn’t getting paid half as much as I made when I worked full time, somehow every published freelance piece seemed worth more than those I’d done as a full time worker. Perhaps it was because there were more challenges to complete deadlines. I was my own editor, accountant and critic. I could do only as much as I could manage and the biggest reward was that the writing allowed me to watch my kids grow.

So let them quiz me about my skills – past or present. I can bet that my sabbatical has done more good than any employer can ever imagine. When I look at two very content children, I know the battle is already won.