My Mom's Better Than Your Apprentice...

[christinaliu]

This was first published over on ClubMom.com almost a year ago.  But with the return of the new season of the Apprentice  :-) and all the recent posts about being a SAHM or Mom terminology, I thought this would be a timely article to post here on the Cafe.  Enjoy!

My Mom's Better Than Your Apprentice

Is she a stay-at-home mother or a corporate executive?

I've been an avid watcher of the reality TV show (or unscripted drama, as series creator Mark Burnett prefers to call it) The Apprentice week after week. Many times I have thought, "Gee, I would have done a way better job than that project manager" and I'm sure many of you have thought that as well.

Then I wondered, am I just being a "Friday Morning Quarterback" (or with the new season, it'll actually be appropriately be called "Monday Morning Quarterback) ;-)or would I really be able to do better in those situations? Well, after voicing my question aloud, my husband hit upon the key issue: The show is designed to select people who are best able to perform well under pressure. People who are able to creatively solve problems, especially in ever changing situations. More importantly, the show selects people who are able to think on their feet. That's when I realized — I know lots of women who would be able to do better than The Apprentice wannabes. We are Moms. Think about it:

 

• We perform with grace under pressure
• We creatively solve problems
• We mediate disputes
• We manage multiple tasks at any given time
• We handle whining and demanding "team members" on a daily basis (our children)
• We work within a budget (okay, at least most of us do)
• We manage corporations (our households)
• We plan logistics and scheduling that would make corporate managers go cross-eyed
• We provide long-term strategies for operations planning
• We direct training and development
• We critically evaluate potential vendors and partners

Of course, many of us were in the business world prior to becoming stay-at-home moms, and so have acquired some of our skills while we were in the workforce. I maintain however, that as moms, we have acquired (and continually hone) skills that can be applied to business situations far more effectively than what many Apprentice applicants have demonstrated in their tasks each week on television.

So perhaps we should change what boxes we generally check off when filling out forms and surveys, when responding to employment status. Usually the choices are "Employed Full-Time," "Employed Part-Time," and "Not Employed." Or there's a bunch of job titles, and then there's "Homemaker." We should select "Employed Full-Time" and the title of "Corporate Executive."

Now all we need is the $250K salary that Donald Trump is offering to the winner and we'd all be set!  Barring that, let's all go out with our heads held high, and be the Corporate Executives that we are, in practice, if not in income.

 

[Daniela]

Jan. 5, 2007 at 5:16 PM Amen sister!!! That was great.

[cassandra17]

Jan. 5, 2007 at 5:57 PM  I agree with you 100%!!!! 

[snowflake9903]

Jan. 5, 2007 at 6:09 PM Reminds me of the movie One Fine Day where Michele Pfiefers character makes a super hero costume with the stuff in her purse.  That's a mom for you! 

[heather]

Jan. 6, 2007 at 12:41 AM BRAVA Christina!  So true ...