Since becoming a mother in 2012, my life has been one of balance. From moments of chaos to moments of zen, the day to day realities of becoming a parent are those that I have dealt with both privately and publicly.
This added texture of becoming a parent and being an artist is also a balancing act that I continue to deal with in my writing.
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So when the ad below was posted through my Real Estate Agency, with quite a few parents and a few new working mothers and fathers, one might understand the outrage…
Ironically, in my last post, I specifically touched on this struggle of working motherhood…and in a piece for Brain, Child earlier in the summer, I discussed the economic difficulties that made me even consider Real Estate in the first place.
It was actually an ideal move for me, I love people, love helping people and love homes – their details and history. Give me some crown molding, stained glass windows or a grand staircase and I’m set!
This ad just hit – right in the gut. Not only as a working mother, but specifically in real estate and even more specifically in New York, I have faced my own up-hill battle over the past couple months with children and justifying childcare and previewing, putting the client first and running myself ragged.
It is not easy and while mentally, I might feel like the woman on the left, it is so important to not resemble that with my clients.
The physical and emotional drain of motherhood is one that knocks me out in the evening – it also keeps me up, working for my clients just a little bit harder because I want to be sharp … efficient.
Surely this ad was not created by one person. Multiple eyes had to see it and so I question when someone thought it was a bad idea, was their voice overlooked?
How did bad judgement get so far in a nation of working mothers?
The social media accounts for Costello and Costello Realty Group seem to all be disabled.
Their yelp page is full of comments from dissatisfied mothers, and so it should be. There are just too many hard working women (and men) who juggle home life and parenting. While some, like my husband, seem to handle both with ease, it is still a delicate dance a balance of life that allows the focus on the work to be even more precise.
So to answer the ad, Who would you rather represent you?
I would rather the agent on the left who can empathize with my life and laugh with me about the crazy things our kids did. The agent who juggles and gets my needs and not two wise guys who are anything but professional.