Tuesday, April 20, 2010
What's in a Name?
I don’t really even like kids.  Don’t get me wrong.  I LOVE my daughters, but as a rule I have never really been able to identify with kids enough to enjoy hanging out with them.  I babysat maybe twice as a tween before I realized I was much more comfortable with people older than me rather than younger.  In fact, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to have children until right before we got pregnant with our first.  When we decided to have children we also decided that I would give up working and stay at home, at least until the kids went to school.  After spending several years as a professional with a title and a job description, I now find it difficult to fill in things like “occupation” on forms.  Housewife?  No.  Homemaker?  GOD no.  I struggle with that often.  What will my girls say when talking about me?  “My daddy is a judge and my mom just stays at home with us.”  JUST.  Why do I have a master’s degree JUST to help my two-year-old put on and take off her shoes countless times a day?  But as my mom’s principal told her when she was planning to get married, “God need smart mommies too.”  Now I simply fill in “Mommy” on those forms.  Is that ALL I am?  Of course not, but right now, that is my priority.  Then my daughter says “Mommy, shoe help peeeees,” for the fourth time this morning and I think “I am Mommy and that is the most powerful and important title there is."
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Amen sister. Even as a working mom, I still struggle with the reconcilliation. Nowhere on my resume, CV, or website bio can I list the job title of "Toddler Development Manager, Clutter Containment Coordinator, or Opsahl CEO" but yet they're some of the most important things I do. Why not? Our world is backwards sometimes. And FWIW, I think you're pretty much the most awesome reluctant SAHM I know :) :)
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