We all know that being a mom is a full-time job. You don’t stop being a mom when you clock in for work each day. Instead, you become a mom and a nurse. A mom and a surgical tech. A mom and a CRNA. A mom and an x-ray tech. There are a variety of jobs that we as moms do for the health care system. But regardless of the job that we do, what doesn’t change is that we’re all still moms. Moms trying to work full-time to support our families while still juggling all of the schedules, responsibilities, and challenges that come with having a family.
So today I wanted to take a minute and say THANK YOU:
- To the mom who’s been late to work three different times this week because her daycare didn’t open on time
- To the mom who’s had to call in twice in the past month because her child was sick
- To the mom who stayed up all night with a crying baby, but showed up to work on time anyway
- To the mom whose child threw up on them while they walked out the door, and it was her last set of clean scrubs
- To the mom who’s missed dinner with her family this week because cases ran late and she couldn’t leave
- To the mom who missed a soccer game because there was no one to cover her shift
- To the mom who had to pay someone else to take her call so she could go to her child’s dance recital
- To the mom who left her children at home while she drove into work at 2AM for an emergency case
- To the mom with a newborn who left her baby at daycare for the first time
- To the pregnant mom who found out yesterday there was no heartbeat, and still came into work today
- To the mom who painfully remembers the loss of her own child, but takes call Mother’s Day Weekend so you can spend time with yours
- To the older mom at work who gives guidance and advice to young mothers trying to figure out this thing called motherhood
Balancing home life and work life is not easy.
Sometimes it feels overwhelming, and that we might drown from all of the demands placed on us. Throw in a careless comment from someone who either doesn’t have to work full-time, or doesn’t understand how hard it is to juggle everything, and we can start to feel really inadequate. But what other people say really doesn’t matter. They don’t see the whole picture, and they don’t know they whole story. And please don’t forget, there are a lot of us out there that know exactly what it’s like, and we understand how hard it is.
So thank you for everything that you do, and how hard that you work to keep everything balanced. Your struggles are real and your hard work is worth it. Your sacrifices may go unnoticed, or may be misunderstood by some, but you’re doing the best you can for your family. And that is ultimately all that matters. You are appreciated.
From one working mom to another,
Melanie