A Salute to Home CREATORS

Happy Mother’s Day to All!

Life as a stay-at-home mom can feel a lot like, well, you see the visual. This is how my son’s room in our new house looked before we moved in.

Homemaker. The very word has a somewhat embarrassing connotation nowadays. But why?

My mom was a homemaker most of my childhood. I loved it. Many of my favorite memories were birthed during unfettered hours at home. Whether I was playing Legos, writing little poems, or cutting out paper animals all afternoon, my mom was always nearby with warm hugs and encouraging words.

Getting a college education was instilled in both me and my sister from an early age by our mom. And after both her daughters had graduated from University of Florida, my mom went back to school and finished her own bachelor’s degree, 25 years after she had first begun. I was so proud watching her walk across that stage to receive her diploma. She showed me it’s never too late to pick up your dreams where you left off.

My mom’s story is that of women’s lib. She transitioned from full-time mom to full-time employee, sometime when I was in middle school. Years later, she went on to become the first mayor of Southwest Ranches, the town she helped to form in Broward County, FL, and I’m so proud of her for always doing WHATEVER is before her with passion and creativity.

My generation seems to be doing things in reverse. I focused on my career and worked full time in my twenties and early thirties, and now I’m a homemaker a stay-at-home mom not working full time. I do freelance part-time, so I have that to preserve some dignity. But really, even if I didn’t, I’m out to rebrand those of us who…do this and love it.

Here it is, girls: We. Are. Home Creators! True, make and create are synonyms, but there’s an important distinction. While homemaker implies rote repetition and drudgery akin to a factory assembly worker–which is, in fact, a strikingly accurate assessment of our daily duties–home creator extends to include CREATIVITY. And celebrating this aspect of our unpaid personas gives us the greatest dignity of all.

My son’s happy “blue room” and the Lego train tower we built together today.

We are storytellers. We are clothes stylists. We are personal shoppers. We are procurement officers. We are painters. We are singers. We are pantry-organizers. We are interior designers. We are memory builders. We are seamstresses. We are quarter-mistresses, in charge of all ships’ quarters and resolvers of all on-board disputes. We are CEOs, Chief Engineers of Operations who keep plumbing running smoothly (most of the time) and weeds in check (some of the time), and we are CFO’s, Chief Fun Officers who keep crewmembers not only minimally fed, periodically bathed and occasionally well-rested, but entertained to boot!

No, we are not perfect. But we are still creating, still evolving every day–growing our families, our homes and ourselves into something better with each rushed morning and drawn-out bedtime. Even every load of laundry and recycled cereal box is another beautiful stroke in the modern abstract masterpiece of our chaotic domestic lives.

So Happy Mother’s Day, my fellow compatriots. I salute us, one and all, those working “outside the home” full-time, part-time or no-time. We may not be paid in dollars, but we are infinitely valuable. For we…are…The HOME CREATORS!