Enterpreneur Essay, Research Paper

Does work have to be everything?

She is always on the run, trying to work everyday and attend shows for her business as well as taking care of her four children. She just turned 42 the other day and she still acts like she is a teenager. She is my mom, but sometimes I wonder if she knows she still is. I love my mom and I always try to spend every minute of her free time with her, but it is never very much. I used to see her about 2 days a week all through my high school years, but now only about once a month. Business has been her life ever since she opened her first sex shop in 1980. I know my mom loves her work and how could you not owning a store like she does, but she has never been the mom that a little girl needs in her life.

The day I started kindergarten was when I began to realize how busy my mom was all the time. All the other children in my class always talked about their mothers and how wonderful they are. I knew mine was wonderful, but I didn t know that much about her to prove it. My mom would pick me up from day care every night around 8:00 and from then until she put me to bed was the only part of her life I was in. She would bring me home and tell me about her day and read me a story. Honestly that was the part of my day I looked forward to the most. I know my mom tried so hard to be there for me, but with running her own business that was a huge challenge.

As I entered High school my mom and I became further and further apart. She became so distant from me that it was supper hard to talk to her about things. I can remember one particular night when I got pulled over by the cops. Apparently I had ran a red light about a quarter mile back and the cop had finally caught up with me to give me a ticket. As the cop approached the window of my car he asked if we would step out of the vehicle so he could search it. Tara my best friend and I were in the car and being so young we had no idea what the rules were, so we agreed. Stepping out of the car I got this really weird gut feeling. As I looked over at Tara, she looked so nervous that she was almost sweating. At that moment my heart dropped. Had she put something in the car that I had not known about?

About two minutes later I was scared as shit. I knew something was wrong and that I was going to be in big trouble. All of a sudden the cop walked over to me and hand cuffed Tara and I. I guess the cop had found a sack of weed on the floor in my back seat, which I had no idea that it was there. On the way to the jail the cop made me call my mom. I can t believe you would do something like that after all the times I have told you that drugs are bad, explained my mom. Stunned and wondering what she has ever told me in my life, I started to cry. I had never done drugs in my life so I had no idea what to do or what to say.

Pulling into the jail parking lot my mom was standing at the door with her work suit on and her arms crossed. The smile that she usually had on her face was now the biggest frown I had ever seen. As I approached her some of the comments she made were completely ridicules. What has got into you child, I know you would never do drugs , screamed my mom. How would you know, you know nothing about my life, I screamed back. Our conversation went on for about another five minutes until I was really fed up. I felt like she was more upset she had to leave work than she was that I was caught with weed in my car.

My mom and I fought the whole way home about my stupid actions. But for some reason my mom had never taught me any different so I didn t understand. She talked to me like I was her business partner using words that I had never heard in my life. I don t think she ever understood the concept of; leave what you do at work at work and what you do at home at home. When we got home I told her the whole story about how Tara had put the weed in my car and how I had no idea that it was there. I don t think she even cared because she was the kind of mom that really had no idea what to do in a situation like this one. By the snotty look on her face and the little words that were coming out of her mouth I don t think she listened to a word that I was saying. About 10 minutes later she told me to go to my room and that I was grounded. I figured it was the only kind of punishment she had ever heard of. As I walked up the stairs I heard the door slam and I knew exactly why. My mom felt she had done the right thing by grounding me and she was on her way back to work.

Today, things are a little different between my mom and I. Yes, she still works nonstop and she doesn t have much time to do anything, but I have my own life now. Since I moved away to college I have realized a lot of things. No matter how busy my mom is, I still know she will always be there for me and that she loves me.