Mary Angel

(9/2024) Labor Day is historically the first Monday in September every year. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day was a holiday passed by an act of Congress on June 28, 1894, to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. Today, most Americans enjoy a day off work and often times a cookout spent with family and friends. Is this what you think of when you hear the phrase Labor Day?

For my dad and my brother, who are both life-long electricians, they definitely think of their jobs, a day off work, and maybe a beer while grilling hamburgers and hotdogs for the family. Back in the days when my husband worked in the restaurant business, Labor Day was just another day of work. For my kids it was always just a day off school, until they started working that is. For all of the moms I know it has two meanings. Obviously, it has the original meaning, but also the day they gave birth…their labor-day!

Many of my friends have been stay-at-home moms at some point in their children’s lives. That left them with the impression they were not laborers. I am here to tell everyone that is not the case. Not only do stay at home moms work very hard and have a huge responsibility, but they also have the added badge of actually having gone through labor. I know from my own experience, labor, that is childbirth, all on its own deserve a medal and a day off work. Put aside the physical act of labor as childbirth and moms are some of the hardest working people you will ever meet.

It all starts with going through labor. Many of the husbands I know love to tell people they couldn’t have done what their wife did in the labor and delivery room. Whether they had a c-section or natural birth, natural or pain meds, quick or long labor, smooth sailing or complications, it was still the act of pushing a watermelon through a garden hose! Jessica Simpson said, "The birth video they show in a birthing class can make a Quentin Tarantino film look like a Disney movie." This can be true, but it is only the beginning of laboring for your family.

In the typical day of a mom of infants and toddlers she might change 10 or more diapers per child, wash multiple loads of clothes covered in spit up and other bodily fluids from blowouts, and strip down a car seat cover wash it and put it back on (this alone should be an Olympic sport). There are meals to make, faces to wipe, and baths to give. Let’s not forget hair brushing, dressing, and cleaning. All of these things are on a good day and all done with sleep deprivation. After becoming a mom, Amy Poehler said, "Sleep at this point is just a concept. Something I’m looking forward to investigating in the future." When a child is sick, you can add in nurse, chauffer to the doctor’s appointment, and comforter. The days are long and tiring and if a mom has a step counter on, she might find out she has actually completed a 5k.

As the kids start school things get easier, right? Yes and no! Depending on how many kids you have you may find yourself in two categories, toddlers and tutoring. When your kids are in school, you may be the one driving them to and from, or volunteering in the classroom, and usually helping them with homework (or bare minimum making sure they are doing their homework). You will still have all of the laundry and dishes and cleaning, which you will try to complete while they are in school. If you throw homeschooling in here, you are also a teacher! You may well be doing all of this with a toddler in tow. If you are like me and my mom friends, you might take on a part-time job or volunteerism to your labor list.

As your kids become more independent and maybe even begin to drive, you would think things become easier. In some cases, this is true. You can leave the house to run errands without them in tow and even get a good night’s sleep. Well, depending on their age and if they are dating maybe not the best night’s sleep. You have to admit that not having diapers and the terrible twos has to make life a little calmer. However now your labor is not physical, but mental. They are hormonal teenagers, and the years of worrying have only just begun. From dating to driving and sass to SATs, the number of sleepless nights might just rival the infant years.

At this point many stay-at-home moms are starting the process of searching for a new career. I know myself, when it was time to go back to work, I wasn’t sure exactly how that would go. After all who would want to hire a stay-at-home, homeschool mom who hadn’t had a full-time job outside the home in 20 years. Luckily there are plenty of people who acknowledge the skills and perseverance involved in surviving those many years of raising children. I actually had an interview recently where one person asked me how I would handle a chaotic day on the job, and before I could answer another interviewer said, "Aren’t you listening, she has four kids, every day is chaos at her house. I would think she would handle it very well." Everyone laughed and I thought how true that was. If you are looking for someone who can multi-task, handle chaos, and solve a problem with only the items she has in her purse, then do I know some moms you should meet! As moms reenter the workforce, they are now celebrating Labor Day as it was intended to be celebrated when Congress passed the original act.

No matter if you are celebrating labor-day or Labor Day, if you are working inside or outside of the home, or you are simply a child who is just grateful for a day off school, Labor Day is a day to be celebrated and cherished. Whether you look through your baby book, lounge around at a cookout, or simply have an extra dessert at your next Labor Day party, just know you are an amazing blessing and truly loved by those around you. Happy labor-day, I mean Labor Day!

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