Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
I completely agree that working mothers do not have it easy, but that doesn't mean stay-at-home mothers are living a care-free, easy life. We have our own battles to be taken care of on a daily basis.
Yes, I’m a stay-at-home mom by choice. Does that make me any different?
I’m equally educated to land a well-paid job, scale up the corporate ladder, be busy with work-related meetings and phone calls, and earn a handsome salary, month after month.
Yet, I choose to be with my child at home, taking care of her, tending to her needs, spending quality time with her, serving her warm and healthy food, and helping her with her studies and extracurricular activities. I choose to take care of my house and my spouse. (*No way does this imply that working mothers aren’t taking care of all these needs.)
In the meantime, I get to explore my hobbies, my likes and dislikes, take care of myself, reskill and upskill, learn and unlearn from my stint as a homemaker and a mother. I’m gathering a rich, real-life experience, which no books or corporate trainers can teach me.
In spite of it being our choice, we stay-at-home moms are looked down upon by many.
“Oh, she’s well-educated, smart, intelligent, she’s wasting her time being at home!”
“Why don’t you take up a decent job and make good use of your time?”
“Assist your husband in running the house; how long will you be a leech, spending his money?”
These are just a few comments that we get to hear.
We are equal, yet treated differently, many times by our own kind. I have gotten feelers and comments from my working friends too, wherein their attitude is like, “We’re working, hence we’re better off than you stay-at-home moms.” There is a different air around working mothers. They say they’re much busier than us, as they have to balance work and home, while we’re “practically free” as we aren’t working.
I completely agree that working mothers do not have it easy, but that doesn’t mean stay-at-home mothers are living a care-free, easy life. We have our own battles to be taken care of on a daily basis.
For a full time home maker and a mother even taking a bathroom break is a privilege, having meals on time is a privilege, making time to take care of herself is a privilege.
There are always umpteen and endless chores to be finished before she can do any of the above. Either it’s time for someone’s breakfast or time to get the kids ready for school. Either it’s time for someone’s evening tea or time to take the kid to her extra curricular class. One after the other right from early in the morning till late in the night she’s tied up with a million such duties and responsibilities without taking a breather. She’s doing much more than anyone else in the same 24 hours. It’s her choice and for some it’s not, it’s necessity!
We’re definitely equal, yet treated differently!
Image source: a still from the short film Ghar ki Murgi
Mother to a bubbly teenager and a student of psychology, Heena is also a travel enthusiast. She loves to observe the happenings around her and weave them into beautiful stories. A writer with a passion read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
Please enter your email address