Hey, Companies, Hire a Mom! You Won’t Regret It!

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Hire a mom . . . you won’t regret it. I have worked as a stay-at-home mom, a full-time and part-time work-in-the-office mom, and a mom who telecommutes. I am most fulfilled working half the time in the office and half the time as a stay-at-home mom. For me, that was the perfect balance.

My hardest job was not when I worked at a demanding corporation, but when I worked as a stay-at-home mom.

Why? Staying home is incredibly demanding because you are literally “on” every waking moment . . . especially if you have little ones. There are no lunch breaks, vacation days, or sick days. You literally cannot call in sick, even when you are in fact . . . sick.

Every women has a choice when it comes to working in or out of the home. The problem I have experienced is that some companies are still unwilling or reluctant to hire mothers.

Being a mom is a huge part of who I am, but it’s not the only part of who I am. I consider myself a writer, an innovator, and a productive member of society. What is more productive than raising independent, smart, and kind people for our world?

I catch myself not mentioning my family and responsibilities in interviews. And here’s why . . . I once had a woman in an interview ask me in front of her colleagues, “How will you do this job? You mentioned you have children and you may have to travel for work on occasion.” Prior to her comment, I was pretty sure that job was mine for the taking. In the end, the job went to a single man. Another time a coworker at a radio station said, “Good, you can be on the radio again and talk to all the soccer moms out there.” Because only “soccer” moms would care about what I had to say? We say women can do anything and be anything, but then we hear comments like that. Here’s what I have to say about it.

Who is best at handling a crisis? A mother.

Moms have to remain calm during emergencies so they can properly help their children. Moms can also multi-task like nobody’s business. Only a mother can cook dinner, while making a dentist appointment, and calming a crying toddler all at the same time. Yet companies think moms can’t handle heavy workloads, corporate meetings, and customer complaints.

Let’s talk about the workload of laundry and dirty dishes for a household of 5 or meal planning for an entire family or homework for three kids at three different schools. And let’s face it. If you can sell broccoli and Brussel sprouts to a toddler, you can sell anything!

I hope to be one of the next decision makers carefully going through hundreds of resumes filling the most important position at my work. What would I do? Who would I chose? I would chose a mom everyday over anyone else.

I know she does not expect praise for every goal she hits and task she completes. She will have the most compassion for others in the workplace. She will be the greatest team player we’ve ever hired (see . . . there’s an actual benefit to being a “soccer mom”) Her conflict resolution skills will be off-the-charts impressive. (Thanks to all that sibling rivalry). She won’t mind working long hours. (Frankly, she’s used to it.) She will also be an amazing project manager. (She’s literally built Rome in a day . . . Thanks to her middle schooler’s history project.) Yes, today’s gonna be a great day at the office for me, and one day my daughter will appreciate it too.