No 401K Here

I love my girls. Before they were born, I couldn't imagine life with them. Now that they're here, I can't imagine life without them. They are beautiful, funny, smart, sassy, strong-willed, opinionated and they haven't even started kindergarten yet. I wouldn't trade them in for the world, but they are a lot of work. A WHOLE lot of long-houred, unrewarded, unpaid, unappreciated work.

Whoever said "Motherhood is it's own reward," must have been inhaling too much baby powder. Or eating the Balmex. I am pretty sure that if someone went to work for 16 hours a day and had to try to get work done while her co-workers kept getting in the way, making messes that she had to clean up, on top of having to make three meals for said co-workers and take them to the bathroom, teach them how to do their jobs and keep her cool when the coworkers threw tantrums, all without so much as a head nod from her boss, no paycheck at all, no benefits, and had to listen to people tell her that her job is easy and she should actually take on more work, I'm sure she would quit the next day. Shoot, I would!

Well, welcome to Motherhood. The most overworked, underappreciated job on the world. Yes, I signed up for it and dammit, I'm good at it, but that doesn't mean it's easy or that I don't have a right to complain. If that's the case, all those people at work groaning "This day is going by so slooow, I can't wait to go home," or "I have so much work to do, I am so stressed," should just shut up. After all, they applied for the job, right? Hmm, doesn't quite seem fair.

Now, there are things that keep me going and make me realize that what I'm doing is worthwhile: the smile Mia gives me when I walk into the room, the stories Leila tells me about her day, the way Mia acts out "The Isty Bitsy Spider", Leila knowing her alphabet and counting to 12, the way they sit down at their tiny table and have their meals like little adults, the way they dance to anything that remotely sounds like music, the way Leila takes care of her little sister, the way Mia will repeat any word I say with clarity, the way they look like living angels when they are sleeping. These are the things that keep me from quitting my job. My benefits, if you will. But I cannot say that Motherhood, in and of itself is a reward. It is on-going. Not until I am old and gray and I see that my children are grown, successful and happy will it be its own reward.

I'll wait.