Today I was delegating, as I do, to Ben and to the kids. I was asking for coats and grabbing shoes, and I was getting Sofie in the car and telling Ben to take that tissue with him. And then it dawned on me. Motherhood, well really parenthood, should be prominently placed on my resume as a leadership skill.
I spend my days delegating tasks, doing them myself, taking care of multiple projects at the same time, and keeping two small humans alive in the process. And this is on top of writing, reading, working out, and keeping myself appropriately taken care of. How many meetings do I conduct with Ben where we plan out how to approach a week, make meal plans, do research to decide on babysitters and school activities?
If I listed parenthood from 2018-current on my resume, most people might laugh or ignore it all together. But why? I do, at home, what many managers do at work. I have to have people skills and leadership skills to convince my kids to do what I ask them to do. I have a timeline and deadlines and time blocks and have to be a craftsman, know how to cook, clean, get wrinkles and stains out of clothing. I have to make friends with other parents, budget out activities. I have to work quickly, make tough decisions and be held responsible or hold myself responsible for the consequences, and learn on the job.
My grandma always said she was a domestic engineer. And I never really understood that she probably wasn’t joking. If people who are in power would actually stop to think about the tasks a mother or father does on a daily basis, I don’t think they’d ever say that any person “took a break” to be a parent. As parenthood is not a break. It’s the most difficult full-time job you could ever have, and if done with heart and passion, will give you enough experience to accomplish just about anything.