When I go to these conferences with Ian held at the five star hotels, I invariably get seated next to some high powered professional woman at dinner. It all goes very nicely at first ( I am pretty good at the small talk) but then comes the dreaded question "What do you do for a living?" As soon as I say I was a stay at home mom to five kids there's a visible change in my new table friend. Eyes widen, there's a slight shake of the head in disbelief and the conversation usually pretty much ends right there.
I'm not going to lie, it makes me mad. I chose to stay at home to raise my children not because I wasn't capable of doing anything else. I loved being at home with my kids, I found it more fulfilling, challenging, and rewarding than any career I could ever have aspired to. I couldn't for a second imagine doing anything else and I hate the assumption that because I stayed at home to raise my children, I am of lesser intelligence.
I have decided that the next time I find myself in this situation I am going to come up with something witty to say that will leave my new table friend at a loss for words.
"And what do you do for a living?"
"I'm a writer"
"Oh really?" (I can imagine their interest being piqued)
"Yes" I will answer casually.
"What do you write?"
"Mostly cheques, some emails and I have a blog."
