The Definition of a Working Mom

What’s the definition of a working mom? Is it black and white?

When I went back to work after EJ- I was for sure a working mom. I worked out of the home, in a nice office with windows. Traveled. Pumped at my desk. Left her at daycare. I got irritated when people would invite me to playdates at 10AM on Tuesdays.

There were two types of moms in my brain. The working mom. The stay at home mom.

But then I had friends who started teaching classes online. They would go to library story time- and grade papers during naps. Record lectures after the kids when to sleep.
“Those aren’t really working moms…” I thought to myself.

I decided to go down to 10 hours a week with my current organization after Brewer was born. And then I got a part time working from home job with North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition…
This morning, I had a meeting with the management team. Tuesday, I interviewed candidates. Every night, after our kids go to sleep and while Mary does homework for grad school- I respond to emails and clean up data and submit it for review for NCBC. I schedule videoconferences during naptime. I update websites.

This afternoon- I just picked up a little side gig of doing community outreach for small mom owned and operated local business.

My friend is a photographer. Her oldest goes to a childcare provider, and she takes professional photos of homes for real estate agents- with her 11 week old strapped to her in a baby carrier. While I’ve never asked her how much she makes- she is always quite busy and appears to be doing well for herself.

I get paid. I pay taxes on my income. My oldest still goes to preschool 2 days a week…But I still go to story time. The aquarium. I schedule play dates. Am I working mom anymore?

I don’t know.

The line suddenly got blurry for me. For now, I’ve decided to identify as a mom who “works part time from home…”