maybe it being described as the 'hardest' job in the world is also because in our culture it is also the most unrecognised?

having a baby in our culture can be social and career suicide. raising children is not something that is seen as precious, in fact, children are just not seen as precious by larger Australian society. sure, we all get up in arms and rant and rave when a child is abused and/or neglected (thankfully we haven't completely lost our humanity!) and yet, we live in a world where a woman can be kicked out of a restaurant for BF her baby, or arrested for feeding in a public square, where there are stores that ban pram access.

then there are the career issues, where having a baby for a woman can mean loss of job, income and furthering her prospects for promotion (and yet, on this we again, are made to feel less than womanly, and less as a parent for wanting these things).

being a mother of a child in this world does mean that on a global economic societal level we are invisible. the impacts of which can be graded according to where we have started from (ie a woman functioning at a middle class level in a first worl country faces the issues i outlined above, whereas a woman from a middle class family in a third world country will face even greater invisibility...take for example that in sri lanka 1 in 10 ppl work abraod, 90% of them are women with children...children that must stay at home with other female relatives). these women are the nannies, the cleaners, the nail technicians, the dancers, the sex workers of the first world. we ask ourselves (well some of us do) when we buy a dress or a pair of shoes if they have come from a sweatshop, but do we ask about the women painting our nails and where are their absent children? evidently not. Domestic migration (such a nice way to term modern day slavery!) is big business, the role of these women as mothers in unrecognised and yet, is the catalyst for the migration and funds first world economic 'choice'.

Back to us here in the first world, we may be thankful that we can stay with our children and love them in our arms (basic principle of UN article 9 for the rights of the child no less!) and yet, and yet, as a woman and as a mother we face a society that doesnt value this most important job in the world (that is what it is: it is raising the future of humanity for the betterment of our species and hopefully the betterment of Earth). We are at significant higher likelihood of being paid less than our male counterparts in our work and have a "choice": either leave our children at home and work full time (and face the wrath of judgement), work part time (and find ourselves not only underpaid, but seldom without chance for promotion and betterment in our positions) or stay at home (and just dont get paid, which is ok if finance can permit and it is the woman's choice).

But what is the consistent trend amongst each of these situations? That the role of the mother is unvalued. it should be invaluable.

The "global woman" is childless, and yet she is a mother. and to me, that does make it the hardest job in the world. our villages are empty and our children are growing alone.