"Just a homemaker"

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I was watching the television show "The Good Doctor" and one of the characters was shocked to learn, in her adulthood, that her mother was an interesting person.  

You see, she had thought of her mother as "just a homemaker" and was shocked to learn that she had a full, adventurous life and had even studied a foreign language.

Please allow me to vent.

While that all sounds well and good, I really resent that the story line attempted to elevate the mom's "ordinary homemaker" role by tacking on all of these other things about her life.

Here's my problem . . . why can't being a homemaker or stay-at-home mom (or dad) be enough?  Can't it be amazing in its own right?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to moms (and dads) fully enjoying all aspects of their life, but shaping the lives of children, sacrificing for them, being present to them, is equal to, if not greater than, learning a foreign language or having an adventurous life.

In the eyes of the daughter, the show seemed to imply that the mom would have been less-than, had she not had all of these other experiences. 

I have a real problem with that perspective.

What seemed to raise her level of respect for her mom was to learn that she was more than "just a homemaker."

Isn't it time we celebrate such a sacrificial, loving vocation as parenthood for its own sake?  

My mom never learned a foreign language.  She never had outstanding adventures, but she was quite extraordinary.  Her resiliency, her loving, compassionate nature, her selfless response to motherhood is what I think was impressive.

She could not have been more impressive if she had learned to fly a plane.

Parenting requires self-sacrifice.  Sometimes--usually--it even means giving up, or postponing one's dreams or material desires to give their children what is needed in the moment.

Parenting is a call to be virtuous, and while it is not always easy, it is always worthwhile.

Happy Easter!

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.com
Follow my Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
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