I never wanted the word mum on my CV

I was never one of those girls growing up who when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up said, “I want to be a mum”. I remember plenty of girls in high school saying exactly that. I saw that as totally lacking in ambition and simply following a path that had been laid out for them by their own mothers. Didn’t they understand that had more choices in life and they didn’t have to have children just because it was expected of them?

I never understood why you want the word mum on your CV.

What I couldn’t understand was why was this all they wanted for their life. There were so many amazing things to do in life things they could achieve, after all, we were told we could be anything we wanted. The world was full of possibilities. I felt like my school friends were settling for just being a mother and to me, that felt like giving up on life before they even started.

Even when I was a young girl my favourite game was playing a successful career woman. I would dress up in my Nan’s old clothes. I would grab a handbag filled with fake money and head out the door to get into my pretend sportscar and go to my fabulous high paying job. I wasn’t interested in playing ‘mums and dads’. I wasn’t interested in playing mummy. It just never felt right to me at all. It left me feeling empty inside. Playing grown-up career women, however, felt perfect.

I grew up in the ’80s and was heavily influenced by the glamour and excess of the era. I loved watching shows like Dynasty, Dallas and Murphy Brown. These women were my role models. They were sassy, successful, smart, wore amazing clothes, had big shoulder pads and even bigger hair.  And they had one more thing in common – they didn’t have kids!

Growing up I would imagine myself living their life. Even into adulthood, when my friends starting to have children, I never felt that yearn to be a mother. I was focused on doing all the things I loved in life, including advancing my career.

My career has always played a major role in my life. I guess I define myself by my job. I wear it proudly as a badge of honor and will never apologise for it being a priority. I love what I do and I am always striving for the next milestone, achievement or business win. It is my passion and always has been.

I wanted my life and CV filled with amazing experiences, cool projects, great business relationships, opportunities and success stories. I never wanted it to have that big gap which screamed: “I took 2 years break to have a baby”.

I am not saying this is a bad thing and many women do it successfully. If that is what you want, then I am happy for you. But this little chicky never wanted ‘mum’ to appear on my CV and I thank god it never has (or ever will).

If you want to show your support for your childfree staff or those that are undecided, share this link with them >  https://childfreehappilyeverafter.com.au/childfree-events/childfree-choices-corporate-program/