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."

1 comment:

  1. 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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