I, Too, Am A STEM Mom

Take it from this STEM mom, STEM is happening all over the place.

Hey moms (especially you SAHMs), in honor of STEM day, this is for you. Can I confess something to you? I was not what they in the professional community referred to as a math wiz or having an inner Bill Nye waiting to break through. As a matter of fact, I struggled with those two subjects most of my school life. So I spent most of my life thinking I was kind of dumb and falling into the fetal position anytime math or science topics were ever mentioned around me. Then I had two children who both tested for gifted, got married to a college-educated man, and acquired wonderful friends who all had degrees.

For years I rocked and rolled as a wife and mother, never thinking about all the different ‘STEM’ categories I touched on every day. That is until, the big STEM push started hitting schools, news sources, and social media. Businesses and colleges everywhere telling you, you need to be in “STEM this” and be in “STEM that.” Well, as someone who struggled in this area, you can imagine the old feelings coming back (cue the world’s smallest violin playing the world’s saddest song).

But I discovered something while being quarantined during COVID. I was reading all these blogs and articles about moms who left their STEM careers to stay home with their children. Many of them felt guilty for “wasting ” their degrees, while others used their education to totally kill it at the mom game. And these women, these mothers, made me realize that I, too, am a STEMINIST! I actually started reading more and more about STEM and STEAM and realized how much I actually use them.

I mean, seriously, think about all the ways we use STEM in our homes and everyday lives:

• Science– cooking, using cleaning products
• Technology– various digital appliances, social media
• Engineering– putting together Ikea furniture, playing Minecraft or Legos with your kids (you laugh at this, but you need to see some of the masterpieces these kids create)
• Arts– interior decoration, cooking, painting
• Math-family finances, economics, couponing, bookkeeping

Not to mention helping our kids with their homework, completely homeschooling your kids, helping our significant others with their work, or running our own businesses, and the list just goes on and on.

And if you still aren’t convinced, become a lifelong learner. Read about STEM, take online courses (there are plenty of free ones), don’t roll your eyes at the newest app your kids tell you about. I say this as a personal cheer coach to all the moms that sometimes feel less than because they didn’t receive a degree or did but feel like they aren’t utilizing it. You’re using STEM more than you know.