I recently had the opportunity to update my CV. Having not worked outside the home in almost seven years, I have to admit, the idea of work in the traditional sense is pretty exciting.
For those who work daily this is probably difficult to understand, but as stay home mom, there are things I miss about having a job to do every day. Things like dressing and having conversations with someone over the age of 6, for example, but also things like doing socially validated work.
I felt like I needed to explain the gap in my resume
Once I finished writing my resume, I couldn’t help but feel the need to explain more about what I did as a stay home mom.
The very term “stay-at-home mom” makes me cringe because it immediately brings to mind those images of a woman sitting in her house. In our go, go, go culture, sometimes it seems like people don’t really know what moms do and there is this idea that we are simply “at home” and have taken the easy way out because we are lazy or unambitious.
Motherhood is taking a bad turn in our world. Mom’s job is considered marginal, for which we receive a nice card and flowers. on mother’s daybut not something that would ever be considered job-applicable experience.
But get out care duties, feeding, washing, dressing, meeting the emotional needs of children, making a 24/7 professional commitment, shouldn’t there be a place for logistical coordination? The mental load, coordinating schedules, doctor’s appointments, children’s sports or activities, birthdays, family functions, end-of-year celebrations, etc. And then there is the educational support, the homework, all the educational activities. Shouldn’t any of these things be on the resume in some way?
I’ve done so many things that apply to my job search
But I have to be honest; It wasn’t just the motherhood job itself that I felt was lacking space on my resume. What about all the other things I’ve done?
I founded a local chapter of the MOMS Club, a support group for stay-at-home and part-time working mothers, and we are celebrating five years this year. What about all our field trip planning, school trips, and community service projects: Is that all just mom work too, or should it not? have a place for this also on the CV?
Motherhood requires continual adaptation, not to mention a steep learning curve. There is absolutely no manual and moms just have to learn as they go.
Being quick to learn, flexible and resilient are certainly skills that any employer would value, and motherhood demands it from day one. Yet here I am, just hoping that someone will read between the lines of my resume everything that it means to be “just” a mom.
businessinsider
