What stuck with me most (and I am so glad it has) was my
mother's insistence that I be more than just one dimensional.
By this she meant life skills need to be acquired and not just
skills for the business world.
I was set to be a professional woman - not just a
mom taking care of house for me. So I found home
economic skills quite unnecessary for me (I naively
thought I would just pay someone else to do those
things for me and that I would never be a servant
to a man like I thought my mother was).
My mother made me learn things which I thought
were beneath me such as to cook from scratch, clean a
house, iron men's clothing, take care of basic
maintenance on a car (oil change, rotate tires etc.),
learn to sew, use a type writer (thank goodness as I
needed that for computers), balance a check book, set
up a household budget. I scoffed at all of these things
but learned them. My mother told me I didn't have to
use the skills if I didn't want to but it was always
better to have them handy should I need them.
After working in the Financial District in Manhattan
for several years I found the distant fields of back
home beckoning me very strongly. I am now a SAHM (stay at home mom) to
a 2 year old, with a new baby expected any day now, and I am
glad I am more than just one dimensional from the business
world. Because I do have this other skill set to accompany my
financial skill set my dear husband and I are able to swing
it for me being a SAHM. Thanks mom - you were so right and I
couldn't be happier.
