Society demands it. A glamorous lifestyle beckons. Even if it isn’t glamorous it has to be chic, swank and comfortable. Apart from cars and apartments there are pursuits of interests, passions, hobbies, fine-dining, exotic vacations, careers.
Launching into this profession means losing pretty much all of them; at least for a good half of your life.
It suffers attrition from those who couldn’t afford to take it up and those who could but choose not to. That is why this profession is becoming rare these days. In fact, it’s becoming so rare it’s probably going to go extinct.
It is a profession because it demands specialised (on-the-job) training, adherence to strict ethical standards and steadfast discipline. It is so gruelling and complex that no institution in the world could adequately equip anyone for it.
It is all at once a nutritionist, a cook, a psychologist, a medical doctor, a managing director, a teacher of ethics, science, mathematics, languages; it is a nurse, a caregiver, a labourer, a strategist.
If that isn’t enough, you’d be doing them all full-time, 24/7.
You guessed right. It’s being a mother.
But we’re going to take it a step further. It’s being a Stay-Home-Mother. And if that isn’t far enough, it’s being a Stay-Home-Mother of special needs children.
First, these professionals volunteer themselves into it, then they dedicate the prime years of their lives into shaping better ones.
Being on the job isn’t just about feeding kids, making sure they attend their classes and activities and whisking them to a clinic when they fall ill. If you think this is the real deal you’re in for a surprise.
Nurturing a life and making sure it matures into a beautiful one is an exacting challenge that stumbles even the top executives of multi-national companies. It has confounded kings, ministers, world leaders and the brightest elites of society because the ability to nurture isn’t something that is easily forged or fixed.
Yet this ability in the Stay-Home-Mum Profession is so important because beautiful lives, founded upon solid ethics and morals, are precisely what we need for a better world.
For a glimpse of how hard this “nurturing” business could be, check out this typical schedule:
0600 – 0630: Wake up and get breakfast ready for Kid #1.
0630 – 0700: Hustle Kid #1 up to the school bus.
0700 – 0730: Get breakfast ready for Kid # 2.
0730 – 0800: Eats breakfast with Kid #2.
0800 – 0815: Fetch Kid #2 to the Special School.
0815 – 1030: Sits through Kid #2’s lessons and therapy sessions.
1100 – 1130: Gives Kid #2 a snack and does laundry.
1130 – 1200: Retrieves earlier batch of laundry, folds, and packs them away.
1200 – 1300: Cooks lunch for Kid #2 and gets takeaways for herself.
1300 – 1330: Eats lunch with Kid #2
1330 – 1400: Tucks Kid #2 in for her afternoon nap.
1400 – 1430: Hangs up laundry to dry.
1430 – 1500: Picks Kid #1 from school, bathes her and prepares her snack.
1500 – 1530: Tucks Kid #1 in for her afternoon nap.
1530 – 1600: Does nothing and stares into space with a cup of coffee.
1600 – 1630: Does some house-cleaning.
1630 – 1700: Kids #1 & 2 wake up and activity time with them begins.
1700 – 1730: Activity (and homework) time, part I.
1730 – 1900: Cooks dinner.
1900 – 2000: Eats dinner with family.
2000 – 2030: Activity (and homework) time, part II.
2030 – 2100: Teeth-brushing and getting Kids #1 & 2 ready for bed.
2100 – 2130: Tucks Kid #1 & 2 to bed.
2130 – 2200: Clears up kiddy mess.
2200 – 2230: Takes a break and showers.
2230 – 2300: Does some ironing.
2300 – 0000: Stares into space in front of the TV and is knocked unconscious.
0000 – 0600: Falls into a coma.
0600 – REPEAT.
Noticed something? We haven’t even gotten to the nurturing part yet.
Stay-Home-Mums are the minority elite, indispensable servant leaders, and the backbone of society.
We celebrate and honour them this Mothers’ Day.
Photo credit: Vinoth Chandar via Foter.com