Question: What answer do you have for those who say being a mother and a housewife is boring and monotonous?
Answer: They are right--but we should recognize that practically every other occupation is boring, too. How exciting is the work of a telephone operator who plugs and unplugs switchboard connections all day long--or a medical pathologist who examines microscopic slides and bacterial cultures from morning to night--or a dentist who spends his lifetime drilling and filling, drilling and filling--or an attorney who reads dusty old books in a secluded library--or an author who writes page after page after page? Few of us enjoy heart-thumping excitement each moment of our professional lives. On a trip to Washington, D.C., last week, my hotel room was located next to the room of a famous cellist, who was in the city to give a classical concert that evening. I could hear him through the walls as he practiced hour after hour. He did not play beautiful symphonic renditions; he repeated scales and runs and exercises, over and over and over. This practice began early in the morning (believe me!) and continued to the time of his concert. As he strolled on stage that evening. I'm sure many individuals in the audience thought to themselves, "What a glamorous life!" Some glamour! I happen to know that he had spent the entire day in his lonely hotel room in the company of his cello. Musical instruments, as you know, are terrible conversationalists. No, I doubt if the job of a housewife and mother is much more boring than most other jobs, particularly if the woman refuses to be isolated from adult contact. But as far as importance of the assignment is concerned, no job can compete with the responsibility of shaping and molding new human being.
May I remind mothers of one more important consideration: you will not always be saddled with the responsibility you now hold. Your children will be with you for a few brief years and the obligations you now shoulder will be nothing more than dim memories. Enjoy every moment of these days--even the difficult times--and indulge yourself in the satisfaction of having done an essential job right!
