When I quit full-time work to bring up the babies, I often wondered how difficult or impossible would it be to get back on the career track. Eight years and two brats have taught me how nonsensical that thought was. If you are a full-time mom (and all moms are full-time, whether working or staying at home), you have skills that are valuable in any and every work area. They just haven’t been discovered yet, or else every headhunter would be hunting for new recruits among moms. Here’s why essential, everyday mommy skills would be an asset in any job. Or even in the current unpaid, overworked and under-slept one.

Cartoon: Shreyas B K

• You keep yourself constantly updated on the latest happenings around you. You are alert to the slightest change and know that you cannot afford to fall behind or be laid back or else the competition (read kids) will get ahead of you. You are the queen of the One Step Ahead game. You can anticipate when to hide the remote. When to change the password on the computer. When to intervene during Snakes and Ladders because the fight’s threatening to get worse. Which company wouldn’t want those skills?
• You are the world’s shrewdest negotiator and best bargainer. In fact, bargaining is your chief skill because you are constantly at it. “Can I watch TV if I finish my homework?” “Can you buy me this book if I behave myself?” “Can you give me pizza for dinner if I have apple?” You know when to give in and when not to. When to give in to the small stuff (Ice cream) because you want the bigger ones done (Beetroot). When to give in instantly because well, you were a kid once and you know that while the flimsy looking bubble machine isn’t going to last more than two days, it will mean hours of fun and smiles you gave up that job in your previous life for.
• You are a master coordinator. Birthday party arrangements, last minute gifts, play dates, extracurricular classes, pickups and drops, fun trips, grandparent visits, daily activities, food planning, summer vacation boredom busting, weekend outings… you can do it all. And usually to everyone’s satisfaction. Think of it as event planning and customer service all rolled into one. Just on a smaller scale. And not really noticeable by anyone.
• You invented the word ‘multi-tasking.’ You can wipe the child’s bottom and order grocery on the phone at the same time, all the while thinking that you need to pick up new socks for the kids AND call your best friend. You can run a successful catering business from home, take last minute party orders AND do the school run for your kid who’s developed a last minute stomach ache. You can work on a project while one child blares the TV as if he just discovered it produces sound and another shows you everything he is doodling in his new drawing book. Every two minutes. Show me a man who can do that on a daily basis without losing his cool. Well, to be honest, you lose your cool too but still keep at it and do the same gazillion things all at the same time, everyday. That in itself is worth a mention.⊕