My sister sent this to me today, and I thought that you ladies might might enjoy it.<P>God Bless<P><BR>Just a mother<P>I'm Just a Mother?<P>A few months ago, when I was picking up the children at school, another mother I knew well rushed up to me.<P>Emily was fuming with indignation.<P>"Do you know what you and I are?" she demanded.<P>Before I could answer----and I didn't really have one handy----she blurted out the reason for her question.<P>It seemed she had just returned from renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office. Asked uncertain how to classify herself.<P>"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "Do you have a job, or are you just a ......?"<P>"Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "I'm a mother."<P>"We don't list 'mother' as an occupation...'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically.<P>I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.<P>The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high-sounding title, like "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."<P>"And what is your occupation?" she probed.<P>What made me say it, I do not know. The words simply popped out.<P>"I'm....a................. Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."<P>The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right.<P>I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words.<P>Then I stared with wonder as my pompous pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.<P>"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"<P>Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out).<P>I'm working for my Masters (the whole darned family) and already have four credits (all daughters).<P>Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it).<P>But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are in satisfaction rather than just money."<P>There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.<P>As I drove into our driveway buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---age 13, 7, and 3.<P>And upstairs, I could hear our new experimental model (six months) in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.<P>I felt triumphant. I had scored a beat on bureaucracy.<P>And I had gone down on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another......"<P>Home...what a glorious career. Especially when there's a title on the door.
