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You might have seen by now the viral video from American Greetings on the toughest job in the world. As of now, 15 million people have watched this on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB3xM93rXbY
The toughest job in the world is 24/7, no breaks, standing, lifting things, little sleep, and knowing medicine, finance, and culinary arts. This job requires extra work on holidays, "with a happy disposition." It requires giving up your old life. All for no pay.
** Spoiler: The toughest job in the world is being a mom. **
Like anyone else with a heart, I cried when I saw this.
This video was circulated amongst a group of stay-at-home moms who are now deciding how and when to return to the paid workforce. I have no intentions of debating whether or not to stay at home with kids. I know many women have little to no choice if they work. Other women choose to work, that this is fine, too.
I belong to the camp of women who "decided" to stay-at-home with my kids. "Decided" is a tough a word for me. My husband works night and weekends, and the job I had at the time my daughter was born required extensive travel, at least three days a week out of town three weeks a month. One year I traveled so much that I paid income tax in California even though my home was in Chicago. Given my husband's and my combined schedules, either one of us needed a new job, or we would need overnight childcare several days a week.
Before all of that, my pregnancy history was complicated. I had a full-term stillbirth followed by a miscarriage. My third pregnancy with my daughter was complicated. While she was fine, the pregnancy had its problems, including a subchorionic hemorrhage, which meant I bled throughout the first trimester. At the end of my third pregnancy, I had been pregnant for 92 weeks with no baby.
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