I wake up this morning with a sense of purpose. ‘I have to clean out the kitchen cabinet today,’ I think out loud. Besides I have an early lunch appointment with a dear friend this afternoon so I must hurry up, I tell myself. I march out of the bedroom with a sense of purpose, all ready to start my day.
It is only in the shower much later that my thoughts went back to my plan-for-the-day and I realised how frivolous my tasks sounded. Compared to my husband’s, who probably might be in the middle of an important target setting meeting at work, or my childrens’ who might be struggling with mental maths at school, or even their teacher’s who might be going through the daily time-table dealing with thirty kids in class trying to maintain order. Suddenly my cabinet cleaning task sounded like a very mediocre thing to do. Like what a side-character artist feels amongst the main actors of a film! I mean who would really care if the cabinet was clean or not, if the bookshelf was tidied up or not. At the end of the day it is only my eyes that derive satisfaction in it’s order. What kind of a job do I do? There is no performance appraisal, no stars given for good work. Nothing. Seriously, is this what I had done my MBA for? All those years of education, those sleepless nights studying for exams, all that money spent by my parents on college and tuition fees? All of that …….to have a cabinet cleaning job at the end? ‘That’s it!’ I call out loud. ‘I quit!’ I am giving up home making and getting a fancy job, where one can wear fancy formal clothes, high heels and look pretty by the computer all day. Have cappuccinos at meetings, go for after-work drinks not to mention that lovely salary slip that one gets at the end of each month. At least I won’t have to feel guilty about buying the husband a gift on his birthday from his own money! I can treat myself more often, maybe the spa at the Mandarin Oriental or the…Beep….beep. I break out of my reverie at the sound of the incoming message on the phone.
3 new messages.
Year 2 school mums are meeting up on Friday for coffee, can you join?
Trying to call you, all the girls are wearing pink today for lunch….just in case you forget!
Oh no! Pink! I hurry to my wardrobe and yank in open, deep in thought, adjusting my eyes to all things pink in there.
15 minutes later I am out of the door wearing a cute frilly pink dress that I had wanted to wear in a very long time time, furiously texting away while waiting for the lift
Yes hike sounds great! See you tomorrow at 8!
Of course I can! Shall I bake cup cakes to bring in?
Finally in the bus, on my way to lunch, I sit down and let my thoughts wander on my ‘shower hysteria’. Hmm….so if I start working in an office, would I be able to do all this? Lunch with friends? Walk up the hills? Jog in the park? Oh! I put a hand on my mouth to stop myself from saying it out loud. So this is it! This my “salary”, my perks, for being a home-maker for so long! I can do what I want, be what I want and among the many other benefits I have the flexibility to change my job role everyday, every single day! Now can any salaried employee boast of that? And if ever… if ever the MBA bug tries to bite me again I will show him my newly printed visiting card.
SUMMER – my home business venture, and of course my passion, From Miss India to Motherhood. I am doing well to keep my MBA inputs active, I would say. Maybe the visiting card would be more complete if I add SAHM (Stay At Home Mother) as my designation – After all cabinet cleaning is not everyone’s cup of tea, is it?
“This post is a part of #UseYourAnd activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette Venus“.
Leave a Reply