My response to someone who says motherhood isn't a career is the following:

I would say, this is why I disagree with you... as a former art teacher who LOVED my job, I knew it was time for a career change after I had my first son. I went back to work "part-time" and had my mom and husband to help. One day at school after spending a lot of time and giving helpful guidance to a teen who needed to make-up work, I was struck with a thought. What I was doing was expending valuable emotional and physical energy that I needed later that day to deal with my 1-year-old, and my husband. Things were becoming so fragmented. I was trying to do a good job at both of my life's pursuits, and neither was getting the attention they deserved. I decided my family would be my new full-time career and resigned from my beloved job, which I have NEVER once regretted!

This career I have chosen includes helping people with problems, teaching them life skills, managing schedules and budgets, planning social events, not to mention helping to clean, keep up and maintain a home. It also requires cooking skills, learning new things and teaching a love of learning, and recreation. My career also includes giving and receiving lots of love and offering support, time and devotion to the people who are most important to me. For now...this is my life's work. One's life work IS their career.

Mindy