It’s Mother’s Day and I’m lounging with the Sunday paper, which, appropriately enough, is filled with stories about mothers. As I read one about a group for adventurous moms, this sentence makes me do a double take: “Although most of the women used to work full time, about half now have the luxury of being full-time moms.”

I read it again. It’s that word “luxury” that bugs me. Here’s how a dictionary defines it: “something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary.”

Maybe I need to cut the writer some slack -- she probably wasn’t setting out to diss us stay-at-home moms. Still, I find it disturbing-- not to mention ironic--that a Mother’s Day article refers to our role as a luxury.

Since when did a woman’s decision to stay home and care for her children become something nice but unnecessary, like getting a manicure?

I know I’m incredibly lucky that I don’t have to work full time; that I get to take my daughter to school each morning and greet her with a hug when she races out her classroom door every afternoon. My decision to stop working full time was more than a little selfish -- I didn’t want to miss a step of her journey from child to adult. But I also chose to stay at home because I believe raising my daughter is the most important job I’ll ever have.

I feel for mothers who would love the same opportunity but can’t afford it; who have to witness many of their children’s milestone moments through the eyes of others. And I sympathize with moms who have made the choice to, at least temporarily, trade fulfilling careers for a job with no pay that sometimes seems so much harder to do well.

I doubt that they consider being a stay-at-home mom a luxury.

By Dorothy O’Donnell

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