All that talk about the worth of stay-at-home-mums (SAHM). Talking Point recently did a session on it and a fellow blogger wrote about the worth of a full-time-working-mum (FTWM), as the issue has been hotly debated since our Annual Budget 2015.
Wait a minute. Why is there even a need for us mothers to justify our choices to others, whether we choose to work or to stay at home with our kids?
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Over the past 16 years that I have been a mother, I have thought long and hard about my priorities and tried different ways to find a balance between being around for the children and earning an income to contribute to the family’s finances.
I have been a FTWM, a part-time working mum (PTWM), a work-from-home-mum (WFHM) and mostly, a SAHM. I have even been a FTSM. What’s that, you say? It’s a full-time-studying-mum.
Let us imagine for a moment, a world, a world without say, politicians. Or CEOs, CFOs, bankers, brokers, or television personalities. They may be top wage earners but does that automatically reflect their worth?
Now imagine a world with no mothers.
Would there be today? Well jokes aside, without the influence of mothers; their love, gentleness, compassion, patience, wisdom and devotion, what sort of a place would this world be?
Would there be today? Well jokes aside, without the influence of mothers; their love, gentleness, compassion, patience, wisdom and devotion, what sort of a place would this world be?
However a mother chooses to best take care of her children, is for nobody to judge. To talk about her worth is derogatory, vulgar even. Our value is not to be reduced to mere dollars and cents. To some, doing the best they can may mean being there for their kids 24/7, while to others, it may mean giving their kids a good life which they themselves never had growing up.
We all have different circumstances. Different aspirations. We are also in different life-stages. We don’t need anyone to define our worth for us.
Let us keep our heads high, our resolves strong. Let us soldier on as we have always done. SAHMs, FTWMs, PTWMs, WFHMs. These are just labels.
We are first and foremost, simply, mums.
We all have different circumstances. Different aspirations. We are also in different life-stages. We don’t need anyone to define our worth for us.
Let us keep our heads high, our resolves strong. Let us soldier on as we have always done. SAHMs, FTWMs, PTWMs, WFHMs. These are just labels.
We are first and foremost, simply, mums.
Other life lessons (which I’ve learnt the hard way):
Life Lesson #1: What having 6 kids did to me
Life Lesson #2: Don’t over-sacrifice
Life Lesson #3: Marriage is no fairy tale
Life Lesson #4: My bucket list
Life Lesson #5: A lesson on sincerity taught to me by #1
Life Lesson #6: Passion vs Family
Life Lesson #7: Finding our children’s gifts and talents
Life Lesson #8: Teach our children compassion by little actions
Life Lesson #9: What have we done to our children
Life Lesson #10: Why we went on holiday just before the PSLE
Life Lesson #11: What must kids do for us to stop pushing them over the edge
Life Lesson #8: Teach our children compassion by little actions
Life Lesson #9: What have we done to our children
Life Lesson #10: Why we went on holiday just before the PSLE
Life Lesson #11: What must kids do for us to stop pushing them over the edge
Life Lesson #12: Who’s selfish? The kids or me?
Life Lesson #13: Confronting death teaches you about life
Life Lesson #14: To measure our lives in love
Life Lesson #15: The day they fly
Life Lesson #16: Do our kids even know we love them
Life Lesson #17: What are we worth, mums
Life Lesson #18: What do you do when you get sick of parenting
Life Lesson #19: The tragedy of our society
Life Lesson #20: Will you teach your girls to find a rich husband
Life Lesson #21: Are we slowly killing ourselves
Life Lesson #22: What does it take to keep a marriage going
Life Lesson #13: Confronting death teaches you about life
Life Lesson #14: To measure our lives in love
Life Lesson #15: The day they fly
Life Lesson #16: Do our kids even know we love them
Life Lesson #17: What are we worth, mums
Life Lesson #18: What do you do when you get sick of parenting
Life Lesson #19: The tragedy of our society
Life Lesson #20: Will you teach your girls to find a rich husband
Life Lesson #21: Are we slowly killing ourselves
Life Lesson #22: What does it take to keep a marriage going
Life Lesson #23: Why I took 6 kids on holiday by myself
~ www.mummyweeblog.com – a blog on parenting 6 kids in Singapore ~
I feel as long as we know, and our family knows our worth, it is enough. Every mother is valuable, and contributing in each of their ways.
Like you said, we are first and foremost, mothers. And 天下的媽媽都是一樣的.
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
I totally agree with you, Ai. We don't need to bother about what others think. Jia yu to all mums!