Just a MOM 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,
ball-point 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 every
Mother
you know.
Whether a stay at home
Mom
or a career
Mom,
we should all carry this
title.

Dedicated
The Wife of
C Warr,My Brother

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