THE GREATEST OCCUPATION….
July 19th, 2005
A few months ago, when I was picking up the children at school, another
mother I knew well rushed up to me. Emily was fuming with indignation.”
Do you know what you and I are?” she demanded. Before I could answer
and I didn’t really have one handy - she blurted out the reason for her
question.
It seemed she had just returned from renewing her driver’s license at
the County Clerk’s office.
Asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation, Emily had
hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are
you just a…”
“Of course I have a job,” snapped Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation…’housewife’ covers it,”
said the recorder emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day, I found myself in the
same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.
The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and
possessed of a high-sounding title like “Official Interrogator” or
“Town Registrar.”
“And what is your occupation?” she probed.
What made me say it, I do not know. The words simply popped out.
“I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and
Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair, and looked up as
though she had not heard right.
I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pompous pronouncement was written in
bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “just what you do
in your field?”
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply,
“I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t)
in the laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors
and out). I’m working for my Masters (the whole darned family) and
already have four credits (all daughters). “Of course, the job is one
of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?)
and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is
more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are
in satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she
completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career,
I was greeted by my lab assistants - ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I
could hear our new experimental model (6 months) in the
child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt triumphant! I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone
on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable
to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…what a glorious career. Especially when there’s a title
on the door.
Send this to another Mother you know. Whether a stay at home Mom or
a career Mom, we should all carry this title.