{Guest Post} Do You Treat Motherhood Like A Real Job?

This post by Chaunie over at Tiny Blue Lines just smacked all types of sense into me and brought me huge clarity on why some days go better than others. Prepare to have a big ol’ “Aha!” moment with me. 

by Chaunie Brusie (www.tinybluelines.com)

The other day I posted a video about a mom who has birthed 11 children and is now finding the time to go back to school…at Harvard.

I’m a sucker for these inspirational mom stories. I honestly cannot fathom how anyone has that many kids. I know people used to do it all the time and I know lots of people still do it, but it just boggles my mind. I feel like a crazy person with two kids, I just can’t imagine 11 of them running around my house.

So how does she do it? If you watched the video, you will see a super-peppy mom who cites her secret to keeping it all together in two simple steps:

1) She reads inspirational material every morning, i.e. the Bible.
2) She then heads out for a brisk run every morning.

If you are anything like me, your first reaction to this “advice” may be something along the lines of fake-vomiting/sarcastic “how nice for you!” comments. I mean, really? So not only has she produced 11 super-talented children, started her own successful business running a gymnastics gym, and gotten into Harvard, she also manages to read her Bible and run every morning.

Gag me.

But if I look past my cynicism, I see a real truth to her methods. It struck me that when it comes right down to it, motherhood, the day-in, day-out duties of being a mom, really is a job.

A job, that in all honesty, I do nothing to prepare for.

I thought about it in this way–when I go to my job at the hospital, I give myself about an hour to prepare. I get up, get dressed, do my hair and make-up, make some coffee, pack a lunch, say goodbye to Ben and the girls if they are there. And I always, always make it a habit to say a quick prayer before I punch in. I ask that God helps me to perform my job to the best of my ability and that I fulfill His will in some way. Simple, but effective. I wouldn’t dream of starting my day (or night) any other way.

But how do I prep for my day job as mom?

I do absolutely nothing.

I lounge in bed until Ada plods in, then we snuggle for a bit in my bed, then we get up and make breakfast while we’re still in our jammies.

The rest of the day catches up to us, as I struggle to clean, do laundry, prepare the next meals, and somewhere in there, get us all dressed. It’s no wonder I find that I’m always behind, when I start the day behind to begin with. There is no preparation, no hour to myself, no silent prayer to do a job well-done as a mom.

So all of this pondering got me curious–am I alone here? Do any of you do anything to “prep” in the morning for your job as a mom?

Chaunie is a wife and mom of two blogging about the unpredictably of motherhood over at Tiny Blue Lines. She is also a labor and delivery nurse, in addition to being a fantastic writer.