Is being a mom the hardest job in the world?

I have repeated heard : "Being a mom is the hardest job in the world."

We all want to appreciate moms, and those of us who are moms certainly want to be appreciated. So we tend to nod earnestly when we hear this statement. Hooray for millions of moms, doing the hardest job in the world!

But let's be realistic. Let's get past the feel-good emotions we get when we honor the difficulties of being a mom, and let's start to analyze it all. If being a mom was really the hardest job in the world, would very many of us actually choose to do it more than once? Sure, there's that whole childbirth amnesia thing that switches us from "I ain't doin' THAT again!" (while putting cold compresses on our nether regions) to, "Ah, it wasn't so bad" (a few weeks later.)

But there isn't any amnesia that makes a woman forget that her child spit up, peed, and pooped on her, all in one day. When Mommy goes to bed with Daddy and makes another baby, Mommy knows full well that 45 minutes ago she was dealing with a toddler's bedtime tantrums.
Some jobs are really hard. A desk job that requires long hours of amazingly tedious, boring work. An assembly line job in a third-world country that results in repetitive use injury and doesn't pay enough to feed one person in the family. Sometimes we moms get bored, stinky, and sore. But not every single day, all day long. We do have breaks and alot of time we can ask or reach out for help from family or friends.

Don't get me wrong. Being a mom is, at times, hard and sometimes frustrating. We remember all the less than glamorous annoyances our kids bring into our lives all day long. Yet many of us (on purpose) retire our chosen method of birth control, obsessively track our ovulatory cycles, and choose to do it again.

Why?

Because it's not all about vomit, nap difficulties, diaper changing, and tantrums. There are other aspects of being a mom that are easy, effortless, fun and rewarding. Cuddling with my daughter is easy. Smiling when she is being silly is effortless. Most importantly, experiencing a pure love that grows with my daughter (and soon be another baby) is unspeakably rewarding. What amount on a paycheck is better than love.
Oh, no, being a mom is not the hardest job in the world. In fact, some days, it's the best.