When filling out any form, I hate the line that asks for OCCUPATION.
I used to feel quite superior and write in “Domestic Engineer.”
I got tired of that and started writing in what I am most proud of in my life – MOMMY. Not mother, that indicates that you gave birth, but I write MOMMY, in capital letters. It’s a title that indicates I roll in the grass, play dolls and Legos, beat them in Candy Land, rollerblade, jump on tramp, jump on the bed with them (OK, only at hotels) and have bubble-blowing contests. I am a Mommy and thankful to the Lord for giving me the desires of my heart – six kids. In that two inch line, I am making a statement that I have chosen being a MOMMY as my career.
Others don’t see that. Months ago, I was annoyed when I received the hospital copy of my new patient form. They changed my MOMMY to UNEMPLOYED.
Unemployed indicates that once I was employed and now I am not. I am not receiving job offers or being asked to update my resume. If I am now unemployed, where are my benefits? I would love to receive monthly financial reimbursement for my unemployment.
I am certainly not sitting around idle, I work longer hours than “employed” people who work 9-5.
Just to make sure I wasn’t making a big deal out of nuttin’, I checked the definition of unemployment online.
un⋅em⋅ployed [uhn-em-ploid]
1. not employed; without a job; out of work: an unemployed secretary.
2. not currently in use: unemployed productive capacity.
3. not productively used: unemployed capital.
4. people who do not have jobs
Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unemployed>
I was RIGHT! Unemployed indicates you don’t have a job, you are not currently in use. I hardly have a moment when I am NOT in use. In fact, no hour is sacred to a needy child. In addition to being on-call all day long, I am called on through all hours of the night to help kids throw up, stop bloody noses, change sheets for an accident and calm fears after a horrible dream. Aren’t I productive? I have wiped more noses and bottoms than the average person, wiped up gallons of spilled milk and wiped more boogers off the wall than I wish to admit.
Unemployed, huh? They may say my CAREER choice isn’t one of their listed options, but I think they opt not to list my career.
So, I write it in big, capital letters.
M-O-M-M-Y
I am so with you on this one!!I am a full-time mom.I am NOT a housekeeper (just walk into my apartment and look at the chaos!)You might consider me a home-maker, but even that would be a stretch.I am a mom. That's what I do. I take care of my kids….
I also despise the lack of options on those forms that only give a mom the option of being "unemployed" and seem to assume that being a mom means you are shelved because you couldn't be a more productive member of society. See blog post from below to know you are not alone in your sentiments:http://emackinney.blogspot.com/2009/06/dont-fence-me-in.htmlEvery questionnaire writer ought to be sentenced to a house with twelve children, twenty loads of laundry, and appliances on the fritz just to make sure they NEVER write such ridiculous un-options again.
AMEN! On one of the hospital forms I had to fill out I wrote: cook, maid, laundress, teacher, music coach, chauffer, dishwasher, secretary, personal assistant. . . Then in the blank that asked how many hours I worked in a week I wrote 168 which is 24 x 7. I felt very satisfied when I turned the form in.