I guarantee you all the negotiation required to deal with toddlers and keep up with their energy levels is enough to keep anyone on their toes. I also know my mind is really sharp as I’m used to having fragmented conversations and being continuously interrupted and still follow the thread of the conversation. Most of my non-Mommy friends can’t manage that. They simply can’t keep up.

Before I had kids I took three years to travel the world and when I returned to London recruiters doubted my ability to manage again. As with motherhood I convinced them that the skills required to travels across the globe to foreign countries and their cultures fully prepared me for whatever office life had in store for me. They threw me onto the largest trading floor in Europe and I thrived and was invited back for longer term assignments at one of the largest American banks.

I will state that I have a solid background working in the corprate world and have exceptional experience working with executives at senior level and this experience will only help me as I return to the office environment again.

I know as a mother I have learnt and researched more than just recipes and diaper creams and the skills I have learnt have given me the confidence to deal with even the most challenging person in the boardroom.

Sure, that’s one aspect of a corporate job. But in terms of actual job skills, I still don’t agree that it’s relevant. You can suckle a kid and do laundry and make playdates all at the same time and on no sleep, great. But can you do a bunch of complicated stuff in Excel while dealing with corporate travel and fixing the copier and planning a meeting for 50 trustees? Putting a kid up to your boob and designing formulas in Excel are not the same thing.

Unless you’ve been keeping up on your MS Office training and your mental sharpness exercises and intelligent discourse with your peers, of course. But if you’ve just been babytalking your kid and watching Veggie Tales and talking to moms in the park about diaper rash cream for 3 years, I imagine your office skills have suffered.

Bottom line: as physically demanding as choosing to be a parent might be, I think it comes at a detriment to one’s real-world skills. I would never hire anyone who tried to convince me that being a mom was as applicable as actual job experience on a resume. I appreciate people who make the commitment to raise kids, but it’s entirely different than corporate work.

I have told others of your website! Thank you for it!

I recently met a Mom of two in the park. She said she had once managed 40 staff in an office in Japan and being a Mom was way harder that that. I totally agree. No executive that I’ve worked for has ever pushed me harder or demanded more. Nursing alone in the beginning keeps you on call 24 hours a day.

I hope this has clarified things a little more for you. We welcome all people’s comments here at Boobiefed.

It’s not “discrimination” (oh, how quickly people howl that they’re a victim). It’s just not relevant. Taking care of a kid doesn’t translate to a corporate job, but I don’t see why it should count against you, particularly if you have a good resume leading up to the point where you left the work force to have a kid. It’s just an employment gap.