The Best Job Ever!

Nothing compares to being a mother. (Hera)

When I had my second pregnancy, I decided to raise my baby without a help of a baby sitter. My bad experience hiring a baby sitter for my first child made me difficult to trust any baby sitter anymore. I had no doubt or whatsoever that I could take care of my baby. However, the thought of spending much time only at home really ‘frightened’ me. How could I get through the 24 hours a day and 7 days a week at home? Would I get bored then? Would I get my chance to challenge myself so I can improve myself to be a better me? I soon realized, though, that being a full-time mother is beyond what I used to think. It is not only challenging but also interesting. To be a successful full-time mother, I have to learn more to be a good time manager, an independent learner, and a smart educator.

Good at Managing Time

First of all, managing time is not an easy thing to learn, though it’s not impossible to do, either. I used to only plan things for my family then let the housemaid and the baby sitter execute them. I thought that if I could delegate as many tasks as possible to others, I would have much time for myself and that meant I was the good time manager. What I didn’t learn at that time was the fact that some important tasks had to be done by parents! Those include playing with the children, choosing the right toys and games for them, stimulating them in the right ways so the children’s development (intellectually as well as emotionally) can be monitored. People call it as ‘quality time’. But then, quality needs quantity, doesn’t it? Now, being a mother of an eight-year-old boy and a one-and-a half-year-old girl makes me ‘busy’. On one hand, they need me and ‘my time’. On the other hand, I also need ‘my time’ to do my activities which can not involve the children. So, being good at managing time becomes a crucial thing to me. Now, I’m still learning to be a good time manager. It’s now kind of well-organized, though. As a result, my children still have me and ‘my time’ and I still have time to do my own activities and interests.

Never Stop Learning

Besides being a good time manager, I also have to learn on “how to learn” to be a smart mother. Alhamdulillah, my husband and I share the same opinion when it comes to our children – that is the need of dual parenting, so we become great partners in learning (by doing) to be smart parents *_*. Once I’m able to manage my time well, I then have sufficient time to learn things needed to broaden my knowledge on how to deal with children at certain ages, to understand them and their problems, etc. The more I learn those things, the more things I feel I don’t know yet. What makes me amazed is that -at some points- the children can be ‘the best teacher’ for us! That’s why the process of learning is challenging as well as interesting to me.

Being A Good Educator

The last role which is the most important one is being a good educator for the children. It’s not as simple as making lesson plans when we have a class for a term or a semester. Nor, as simple as managing a class with 20 or 25 students. To educate means not only ‘to teach’ but also to act and to give examples. The later is the most difficult one since that requires me to always be aware that every single thing I do will be the lesson that my children learn. I also need to know and understand the knowledge about the child’s growth and development. To do so, I have to know how to benefit any media that I can use such as the printed books, the internet, and even some smart friends of mine *_*. To me, having two wonderful ‘students’ at home is more challenging than having any other classes.

Perhaps because the result of an excellent job of the full-time mother can not be seen instantly, people are kind of ignoring it as the great career any woman can get as a choice. However, the great contribution that a smart full-time mother can give to a community, a country, or even a universe should not be ignored. As for me, being a full-time mother who enjoys the process of learning to manage time well, to learn things about life, and to educate my children –the future leaders- is the best job ever! Although, this is not the job I’ve applied for, I will do the best thing I can. I love what I do and I want to be the first person my children run to when they are celebrating an achievement, feeling hurt or confused, or just want a cuddle. In short, I find I enjoy being a full-time mother and still have time left for actualizing myself and doing my interests.