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| PJ fell asleep on the laptop. |
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| He was so eager for me to finish, but fell asleep. Poor little child! |
Any work-at-home mothers will know that
it's difficult to be taken seriously. Most men think we're not really
devoted to our job. For all the narrow-minded men out there, let me
tell you this: We, mothers, who work from home put in a 12-hour shift
or so caring for small children and then work long into the night. We
work when we can, in a sudden flurry, in fits and starts, because it
leaves us with no choice. We work at weekends. We work in the
evenings until the break of dawn. We work at nap time. And more often
than not, we work while baby sitting a crying child on our knee. We
try to get up before the children wake up, so we can squeeze in an
extra hour, though we just had slept. We rarely get lunch breaks on
time, and what supposedly be drank hot; we take it cold. We work
because we must – whether for financial reason; or we need to keep
up a career so that when the children grow up, we have left something
for ourselves; or we need the stimulation; or for all these reasons.
I never thought of becoming a
housewife. I had always seen myself working, until I gave birth to my
second child, my entire outlook on life changed. I saw the difference
between a working-mom from being a work-at-home mom, and between a
breast-fed child from not. My first child, PJ, was just 3 months old
when I had to get back to work and was nearly 4 months when I stopped
breastfeeding him. I could clearly remember how he had gotten sick
most of the time, like every 2-3 months we had to go to his doctor to
have him checked. And it was costly. Nevertheless, as soon as I
started staying at home, PJ, who was about one and a half year old
that time, had never been to the doctor up to now. He is turning
three next month. Of course, there are times he was sick, but because
I am home, I know how to manage his illness that there is no need to
bring him to his pedia. Cough, colds and high-fever never failed to
pay him a visit every time he was teething. It was a suffering for
both of us. Thank God, his teeth are complete now. My second son, the
youngest, Bien, was rarely sick. He went to the doctor twice only on
his entire existence. He is, by the way, one and five months old. Oh,
the benefits of breast milk! I tell you it is highly exceptional and
simply incomparable! Teething was not a problem for Bien and I, and I
hope it will never be one until he gets his set of teeth complete.
Parents at home, may they be men or
women, who work while looking after their tykes, should be
appreciated for running businesses from home or for working virtually
at home in whatever area they have picked out. Not disdained or
discriminated against. To be described as just as a housewife who is
earning a pin money while the husband does the actual providing
disparages everything women have fought for. I didn't like the way I
was treated when I traded my briefcase for my diaper bag. And just
like a shot, I felt to be a humdrum, or that's what my parents made
me feel. So, here's a shout-out to all homemakers, it is okay to be
home, and if you are going to do it, do it proudly!
After being on both sides of the fence,
this I can tell you, being a full-time homemaker as well as a
full-time work-at-home mom is the hardest job there is in this
freaking universe. There is nothing more important than your family.
If you are lucky enough to be home, embrace it!
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