Now Hiring: Mother
An unpaid, high-performance role with impossible hours, invisible labor, and immeasurable impact.
Position: Mother
Location: On site, remote, in transit, overnight, in public, in private, in every room of the house, and often mentally at work even when off duty
Type: Permanent, immersive, identity-altering.
Hours: 24/7 on call, including nights, weekends, holidays, sick days, and all periods of supposed rest
Salary: Financial compensation usually nonexistent or a maximum of $2.60 per hour, depending on how the labor is measured. Emotional compensation and social recognition highly variable.
Start Date: Immediate
Closing Date: Never
Breaks: Unpredictable and frequently interrupted
Training Provided: Inconsistent
Support Provided: Varies wildly
Performance Review: Constant, both internal and external
About the Role
We are currently recruiting for one of the most demanding, complex, high-stakes roles in modern society.
This position involves the raising of humans.
The successful applicant will be responsible for the physical safety, emotional development, nourishment, regulation, attachment, education, and general wellbeing of one or more children, while simultaneously managing a household, absorbing the emotional weather of the family, and attempting not to lose herself in the process.
This is a leadership role. A service role. A care role. A crisis management role. A logistics role. A devotion role.
It is often framed as ordinary. It is anything but.
Purpose of the Role
To love, protect, nourish, guide, teach, and support developing humans as they become themselves.
To create conditions of safety, belonging, and steadiness.
To raise children who feel loved, seen, secure, and increasingly able to lead themselves into life beyond the nest.
To offer unconditional love while also holding boundaries. To nurture individuality while teaching social responsibility. To meet dependency while gradually preparing a child for independence.
To carry the quiet, impossible pressure of avoiding suffering, while eventually learning that the role is not to eliminate all pain, but to help children build the inner resources to meet life well.
Key Responsibilities
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
feeding, meal planning, cooking, grocery procurement, snack distribution, and managing the emotional politics of food
breastfeeding, bottle feeding, food refusal, and ensuring tiny bodies are somehow nourished several times a day every day forever
toileting, nappies, toilet learning, accidents, hygiene, and bodily care
laundry, folding, sorting, stain treatment, and the mysterious multiplication of dirty clothing
dishes and relentless housework that regenerates at a pace not yet explained by science
bedtime, night waking, early rising, and high-functioning performance under chronic sleep disruption
teeth brushing, dentist oversight, health habits, and managing resistance to basic care tasks
health and safety monitoring, appointment management, symptom assessment, and making judgment calls with incomplete information
emotional support for children through tantrums, fears, meltdowns, sibling conflict, transitions, disappointments, and the existential grief of the wrong colored cup
emotional support for partners, often while under-supported oneself
remaining calm enough to corregulate while personally overwhelmed, overstimulated, or touched out
entertainment, stimulation, developmental support, educational exposure, and enrichment planning
making daily decisions around screen time while feeling guilty no matter what is chosen
hostage negotiation, conflict mediation, boundary enforcement, and de-escalation
managing one’s own healing work to avoid passing down unprocessed trauma
carrying the invisible mental load of what everyone needs, what is running low, what is coming up, what has been forgotten, and what must not be dropped
Essential Skills and Experience
Applicants should demonstrate competence in:
emotional regulation
extreme multitasking
conflict resolution
crisis response
patience under pressure
rapid task switching
sleep deprivation management
anticipatory planning
risk assessment
negotiation with half-grown brains
adaptability
sensory endurance
intuitive decision making
teaching and modelling
compassion without complete self-erasure
functioning while being called upon every three minutes
Previous experience in operations, nursing, psychology, education, logistics, mediation, catering, cleaning, event management, and trauma-informed practice may be beneficial but will not fully prepare you.
Personal Attributes
The ideal candidate will be:
loving
steady
patient
attuned
organised
adaptable
warm
boundaried
generous
emotionally intelligent
capable of holding multiple competing needs at once
Applicants are also expected to remain grateful, present, and aware of how lucky they are, even under conditions that may include exhaustion, isolation, sensory overload, and chronic interruption.
Working Conditions
Please note this role is commonly performed under the following conditions:
insufficient sleep
little uninterrupted time
repetitive tasks
noise
mess
touch saturation
high emotional intensity
social scrutiny
conflicting advice
under-recognition
inadequate support
pressure to enjoy every moment
pressure not to complain
pressure to appreciate that it “goes so fast”
Remuneration and Benefits
Benefits may include:
spontaneous affection
profound love
occasional appreciation
sticky hugs
handwritten notes
witnessing the unfolding of a human life
being called “mama” in a voice that can crack your heart open
Please note these benefits, while real and meaningful, do not remove the need for tangible support, rest, relief, or shared responsibility.
Important Clarification:
Struggling in this role is not evidence of inadequacy. It is not a sign that a mother is weak, ungrateful, broken, or failing.
It is often a sign that the role itself is enormous.
That the expectations are immense. That the load is real. That the support is insufficient. That no one was meant to hold this much alone.
Our Position
We believe motherhood is not a low-skill or lesser role.
We believe it is one of the most important and under-supported roles in our society.
We believe mothers deserve reverence, rest, resources, relief, community, and practical support.
We believe naming the truth of the role is not negativity. It is honesty. And honesty is where change begins.
To Apply
No formal application process is required. Many have already been appointed without interview, orientation, or adequate briefing.
If you are currently in this role, please consider this your official notice:
What you are carrying is real.
What you do is skilled.
What you hold is immense.
And your struggle does not mean you are failing.
It may simply mean that this job was never meant to be done without support.
