When my parents meet another couple, the conversation eventually leads to, "What do you do for a living?"

Mom responds, "I'm not working right now; I'm a stay-at-home mom."

Excuse me while I collapse in laughter. Not working?! Yeah, right.

These are just a few of the many hats my mom and countless other wonderful mothers wear.

Strategic Development

Organizations (families included) don't improve without work. Moms may not think of themselves as strategists, but it can be anything as simple as goals for improving the home or something as complicated as tacking discipline issues. Hey, it might even be planning fun excursions like a vacation!

Manager

This includes coordinating schedules for each individual, working with finances, keeping an eye on home and vehicle maintenance, updating children's wardrobes... oh, and keeping everyone within the entire organization fed. That's the next point.

Culinary Arts & Nutritionist

Not a simple task, moms are primarily charged with purchasing, planning, and preparing meals. Then, mothers are constantly fighting the Sugar Monster who appears on billboards and in commercials, tempting susceptible minds with delicious goodies. They're not just cooks; mothers are also the in-house nutritionists, ever seeking ways to coax vegetables into little (or not-so-little) mouths.

Interior Designer

In our family, it worked something like this:

Mom: "I want this look in this space." (A detailed explanation of colors and materials followed.)

Dad: "OK, I'll see what I can do."

It worked perfectly!

This might be a good time to note that dads are great at jumping into these roles, too, but I've seen moms excel in every area I'm mentioning. My mom does a beautiful job envisioning and then maintaining interior design.

(Example: that means deciding what kind of couch would look good, be practical, and fit in the budget. Then, she vigilantly guards the couch from permanent markers, scissors, sticky fingers, and banned food or drink items. And, when said guidelines are transgressed, that requires rehabilitating the couch to its former glory.)

Gardener

Whether it's some flowers to brighten the front of the house, an aloe tucked away in the kitchen, or a full vegetable garden in extra land, mothers do a great job adding one more task to juggle.

Chauffeur

For no pay and no tips, mothers spend an inordinate amount of time shuttling kids to and from multiple events. Carpools are a wonderful invention for the busy mom.

Guidance Counselor

And of course, the purpose of motherhood? To raise your kids. That's in the picture-worthy moments of perfectly-behaved children or successful young adults and in the heartache moments of defiance and seeming failure. Mothers are guidance counselors who spend hours learning their children's dreams, strengths, and weaknesses and then championing them and guiding them to success.

To Moms Everywhere...

...Thank you for selflessly serving your families. Your hard work truly changes lives.