Looking Down on "Mommies"

So the word "domestic" is a bad word in our house.  I'm the furthest thing from domestic.  I'm not the "mommy" type nor am I the type who would ever feel welcome in those circles.  If I'm being honest, really honest, I've looked down on the domestic mommy types over the years.  Does this make me a bad person?  Perhaps.  But what I really think it makes me is someone who's been uneducated and lacked the necessary intelligence on what makes a domestic goddess.
This post is not going to try to convince my business focused friends that managing carpools and play dates is as stressfull as juggling executive board meetings or annual budgets.  I wont try to convince you of this, because I don't believe these things are as stressful as what happens in the workplace.  Yes.  In the words of Jackie Kennedy " If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."  What happens in the workplace is a very different kind of stress with a very different level of accountability than what happens at home.  To the full time mommies out there, I'm sorry if this has offended you.
I'm blessed to have the best of all worlds, I'll admit that.  This is the perfect life in many ways.  I'm working on projects I love, have a great marriage, a great family life, and have time to be at home.  This doesn't mean I don't stress about money or balance or a laundry list of other things from time to time.  I even go so far as to stress over the transition from powerful, popular local business executive to Domestic Goddess, Writer, Wife, Momish, and part time business woman.  It's a juggling act for sure.
So in the honest spirit that this blog has taken I'll admit what I never thought possible, I really enjoy this life.  There.  I said it.  I really enjoy being domestic.  Yes, I actually enjoy being the cheerleader for The Hubs and The Sonish, doing most of the cooking, taking the dry cleaning, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, and being the go to person for family matters. It may not seem like a lot to some readers but for those who have prided themselves on being a professional first, you can understand what a big deal this is.
Less than a year ago I would have told you that embracing this role with pleasure equaled failure.  I really thought it meant that I was "giving in" to all that had repressed women for centuries.  That by cultivating a home and a family first I was practically handcuffing myself to the stove with little chance of escaping without turning on the gas.  Sound extreme?  That's really how extremely passionate I was about it.  Today I see things differently.  First, I'm not handcuffed to anything.  Second, I The Hubs is a fantastic man who approaches everything with gratitude and respect.  Third, I have the opportunity to balance my life (ultimately our lives) with variety.  Variety comes in the form of this blog, in my role as an executive recruiter, my work as a public speaker, in my free lance marketing projects, and in some various business development and volunteer partnerships.
Since we're being honest, juggling it is hard.  It's really hard.  What's even harder is getting that old voice of failure out of my head and encouraging this new voice to emerge.  Is it as hard as being accountable for an entire organizations success while being paid 45% of what my boss made?  No.  It's not that hard.  It's not that hard at all.  Is it as hard as staying up with a new baby in the middle of the night and then managing the rest of the family responsibilities the next day?  No.  It's not nearly that hard, either.  Is it as hard as single parenting like many of my friends who do it every day, all day by themselves?  Nope.  It's not even close to that hard.  So I'm working at juggling this new life with gratitude and respect while walking the tight rope between powerful business woman and domestic goddess.  Wish me luck.