As little girls, our mothers are the first adults we try to emulate. We observe them dress up for office, wear their makeup, head to work and still manage to get home and cook us dinner at night. We admire our mothers for how hard they work day in and day out and manage to run a household successfully at the same time. You’ve also probably seen or heard your mother deal with unnecessary judgment from the society’s favorite court, “Aunties”. Despite the negative attitude, your mother took the comments in her stride and continued bringing in the bread. So here are a few things you can probably relate to if you grew up with a working mom:
1. You Aim For The Moon
Nothing makes you prouder than telling people your mother is a working mom. She instills this sense of independence in you from the get-go and expects you to even surpass her in brilliance. Your mum wants you to aim for the moon because she believes even if you don’t reach the moon, you’ll hit the stars. Your mother will never pressure you to favor getting married over working and settling down financially. When annoying “aunties” show up and demand your wedding date, your mom always swoops in to save you.
2. You Learn To Be Tough-As-Nails
Getting bullied at school? Well, tough luck, your mom is probably in the middle of a busy meeting at the moment. At a very young age, we learn to be self-reliant and defend ourselves because we know that we can’t go running home to our mommies or disturb them during their workday. When we have working parents, they often teach us various survival skills that we could utilize as we grow older.
3. You Start To Value Family
If both your parents work and you have a house help to help with you and your siblings, you’ve learned to value the limited time you get with your parents during the weeks. And that’s exactly what makes weekends extra special. Since your parents want to unwind too, it’s endless trips to the park and beaches for you!
4. With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility
If you’re an older sibling, you’re probably used to being the boss when your parents aren’t around, but this also means you’re responsible for what happens in the house. Not only do you have to ensure that you don’t burn down the house, but you gotta keep a lookout for your younger sibling as well. You learn how to handle responsibilities and live up to your end of the bargain.
5. You Grow Up In An Equal Household
It takes a man of firm character to be understanding and appreciative of his wife’s career path. While so many women are pushed into being housewives, your parents broke the norm and decided to switch things up. If your father is a stay-at-home parent and your mother is the sole breadwinner then you have seen your father take on non-traditional roles like cooking and doing laundry. This has inspired you to never settle for a man who does not respect your career and aspirations. You would want a partner who would be ready to share the load and help you out.
6. You Learn To Follow The Rules
Your parents have no time to deal with your petty teenage dramas and revolving sets of friends. They put certain absolute rules in place and you learn to follow them. If they give you the freedom to stay alone without a house help during the day, you learn to value your alone time and use it productively (most of the time at least).
7. You Aren’t A Damsel In Distress
If you have a working mother, she has probably taught you every life skill from cooking to stitching to changing a lightbulb. You’re probably the friend your friends call when they are unsure of something or need help with something. Your mother taught you to never have to depend on a man in any situation and never show weakness. Whether you are a 24-year-old living alone in a big city or a 30-year-old with a flat tire, you can handle any situation.
8. You Learned To Not Care About Society’s Opinion
Your mother has always had an “I don’t give a cr**” attitude towards life. She’s made sure to instill that within you too. After all, most forms of hatred stem from jealousy. Your mom has often been unfairly placed under society’s scanner for deciding to not put her career on hold and raise you. But you know it doesn’t matter as long as your mother and family are happy.
9. You Are Always Independent At Heart
You just go with the flow of life because it is unpredictable. There are so many variables that can affect the situations you encounter each and every day. You ironed your school dress by yourself, did your homework by yourself, and had independent opinions.
Your mother has probably taught you everything you know about life and you know that everything you do is to make her proud. In the end, regardless of whether a woman chooses to work or be a stay-at-home parent, it should be their personal choice. Do let us know if you could relate to any of these!
