Mother of a Renovation

Mother of a Renovation

You don’t need to have kids to know that it’s hard work being a mom. Because seriously, it’s hard work. Our kids are wonderful. We love and support them in all their endeavors, even when middle school does turn them into crazy people.

Being a Mom is a full-time job even if you’re also a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, an accountant, a rock star or a renovation manager. We moms have a lot to take care of and we don’t have a lot of extra time. And that’s important to keep in mind as you’re considering a major home renovation, a task that is also a full-time job.

I know it’s tempting to imagine that a mom—especially a stay-at-home mom—can handle all the details of the total rehab of the downstairs. She can make phone calls and pick up paint samples and be around when the contractors come by to deliver estimates, right? I mean, how hard can it be?

One of the best Mother’s Day gifts you can give your favorite mom is not letting her handle the renovation all by her lonesome, even if she thinks she can, even if she’s a stay-at-home mom and especially if she’s caring for kids with one foot in childhood, the other in adulthood, and the rest planted in uber-eye-rolling adolescence. The amount of stress and hard work that comes with a major renovation is significant enough on its own that most people require a lot of help getting through it. Add kids into the mix and you’re looking at a task involving Olympic-level endurance, communication and time-management skills.

Mothers are expected to be everything for everybody almost all the time.  As women, we’re naturally inclined to multi-task. It can be very easy to keep adding jobs to the list. But often adding a renovation is just not feasible if you are at all cognizant of your mental health. And it certainly doesn’t make you less capable to admit that you need help.

From my hormonal, pubescent household to yours, Happy Mother’s Day.