My New Career

Traditionally one tries to find a job after they graduate from college. It is the next accomplishment after attaining a degree. I chose to take a different route...

Soon after graduating from college I found out my husband and I were going to have a baby. When I found out I was pregnant finding a job was a low priority. I wanted to stay home and enjoy first pregnancy so I didn't even bother looking for a job. Then I had the baby, now getting a job was an extremely low priority. I knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom and take care of my child. I couldn't see it any other way. And so I stayed home and started my career as a homemaker.

I think it is a blessing that I can stay home and take care of my baby and things that need to be done at home. It is wonderful to be able to do things you have always wanted to do whenever you want to do it and not be chained down to a 9-5 job. I am not sure why some people look down upon moms who stay at home, particularly people in the desi community. I have had aunties come up to me and ask me "so beta what are you doing these days?" and when I tell them I stay at home with my daughter they give me this look of disapproval and go on saying "no no beta go use your degree, don't become an auntie like us that stays home cooks, cleans, and watches the kids." I end up looking at them in awe. Don't they realize that they have such an important job? My mother is no different. She is always telling me to find a job, to do something with my life. I think she feels this way because she knows I have a degree and can get a professional job, something that she was not able to do. I guess we just think differently. I look up to my mom for the way she stayed home with us and raised us and I want to follow her footsteps.

Now I do have to say that there are two different types of housewives. There is the one type that does bare minimum- cooks, cleans, and takes care of the kids. I feel like this type of housewife gets tired of her tasks and gets depressed of her life as a housewife. Then you have the other type of housewife, the professional housewife. This type of housewife is the go getter. She uses all parts of her brain and isn't a robot trying to finish daily chores. She not only cooks, cleans, and takes care of the kids but she also is involved in things she enjoys and wants to do. She multi-tasks and uses her time efficiently through great time management. This is the kind of homemaker I'd like to be, one that does more than just bare minimum. Because I'll be honest, currently I feel like I'm of the first category. I have forgotten the things that I enjoy doing. I have lost the go getter in me. And this has made me lose motivation in doing things to achieve certain goals in life. So to start fresh and reprogram myself I am going to write down goals for three different parts of me that need to be fulfilled: mind. body. soul.