How Do You Spend Your Day?

When I was a kid I never asked my mother how she spent her day or for that matter heard any one else ask her that question. Like most mothers my mother was a home maker, or, a house wife (the more common term) and it was taken for granted that she had a lot on her hands to keep her busy the whole day.

We live in different times now. The biggest difference I see is the attitude towards housewives. I have experienced this attitude myself. Before my daughter was born I was out in the corporate world achieving set targets and getting promoted. Not once did I have anyone ask me how I spent my day. All I had to do was tell people I work in the advertising industry and they would look at me with awe and ask me about the clients I handled.

However, the clients I work for now are completely an undefined set of people. They could increase one day (unannounced guests) or there could be other days when they were down to my usual two (husband and daughter). My targets are not pre- defined in the beginning of every financial year. They change on a daily basis depending on what corner of the house catches my fancy and needs real cleaning and scrubbing. I do not have a target audience to think of, because that would make my task too easy. My audience has their various moods and preferences, therefore a blanket strategy would never work for them. My innovations do not come in bursts and spouts. I have to innovate three times a day through the entire year with every meal. Last, but not the least, I do not have to wait for an appraisal cycle to know about my promotion. I now know how it feels to be promoted only once in a while and get a demotion every now and then.

When I was a working girl (am not yet retired though), I could leave my problems behind in the office. Once I was home I could forget about everything troubling me at my workplace and spend the evening any way I wanted. If I wanted a vacation, all I had to do was discuss with my boss and forward my application through the online system.

As soon as I became a mother and a housewife, I realised there would be no more vacations where I could hand over my work to a colleague and take off for a few days. There was always something or the other in need of my attention. I didn't have an option of a separate workplace and home either. So, all my problems stay with me through the day and night.

I put in more hours at work (we just call them responsibilities) now, than I did when I was trying to climb the corporate ladder. In all fairness there should be some sort of appraisal system in place wherein I am appreciated for being available at all times. I should be rewarded a day off where I should be able to hand over my responsibilities for a day and go out guilt free. I know my clients would be completely lost were we to implement this suggestion. Why then, do I have people asking me a question I never heard before? How do I spend my day?

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