On Being a SAHM

Have you had a copy of Reader's Digest in your hands lately?  Have you seen those lists that they've become so fond of....15 Things Your (insert your chosen profession here) Will Never Tell You.  Some of those lists are pretty comical.  I got a kick out of the one where teachers were making the list...got a couple of amens out of me!  Some of them are a little scary and truth be told, I REALLY didn't want to know what the waiters/waitresses or exterminators had to say.  *SHUDDER*  So, in that spirit, here's a list of things about being a SAHM (stay at home mom) you may have always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

• Some days, the SAH part of being a SAHM is a joke.  Grosseries (remember...gross amounts spent on what seems like a grossly insufficient supply only to have to turn back around in a grossly short period of time to do it all over again), library runs, volunteer commitments, meetings, conferences, appointments....I should be so lucky to actually SAH!
• There are no bon-bons or soap operas in my daily schedule.  But give me a bag of chips and some good Barber Party Dip and a marathon of America's Next Top Model and I'm a happy girl:)
• I do not miss having a "real job" because I have one....being a mother!  Hello...if gestating, birthing and raising children isn't real, I don't know what is!
• Being a mother is the most horrifyingly wonderful thing I have ever done. 
• Yes, I do spend the occasional day in pajamas....different than the ones I went to sleep in, but PJs, nonetheless.  It needs to be understood that pajama days are NOT the days when I am running from one end of the county to the other.  Surely you jest!
• I have been known to lose several hours playing online...I said it, don't judge me.  You would not believe how much I can get done from 1:30-3:15 when the Ys and Mr. Snark start rolling in the door.  Brings to mind that old Rice Krispies ad...Mom banging pots around in the kitchen, patting flour on her face...making her family think she SLAVED over the Rice Krispie treats.
• I am happy to serve my family....however, I am not the maid.  They all have working limbs and can do their part to keep things in order.  At some point, the Ys will be leaving the nest (oh yes they will)and they need to understand basic housekeeping skills...and that won't happen if they never have to do it for themselves.
• I am GRATEFUL to have a husband who realized the value of his wife keeping the home fires burning...even if she's sometimes gone all day and leaves the fires untended.
• Yes, I realize that both of my boys are school aged but that doesn't mean that they don't need me to be available for summer breaks, holidays, sick days and such.  I am not a happy camper when I am conflicted and torn....and that's just how I'd be if I were working a "real" job. 
• When Mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy!  Truer words have never been spoken.  Other words were undoubtedly more grammatically correct, but not truer.
• On the rare days when I don't have to leave the house, I might take a nap.  Nothing shameful about it....well, maybe for the elementary school crowd, but I'm telling you, if there was a mandated nap time at school, you'd have a bunch of happy educators on your hands!  Nap time for teachers, that is:)
• My paycheck comes in the form of "Thank you for supper, Mama!", "You found my missing sock!" and "You're the best!"  Better than any form of paper or coin currency every known to human kind.

I read an anniversary announcement some years back that really hit home with me.  The celebrating couple had been married for fifty years.  The article listed the husband as being retired from a local pipe manufacturer and his wife's occupation was listed as "homemaker."  I can't tell you exactly why it hit me the way it did, but it just struck me to my core.  I don't know what comes next for me...God does, so I don't have to worry about it.  I do wonder, though.  Will I go back to teaching? Will I find a way to make my love for parties and weddings and planning such things into a lucrative venture?  Will I go back to school and make good on my dream of being a labor/delivery nurse?  Opportunities are endless...nothing is impossible because of what Christ can do through me for his glory. Even on the hardest, most frustrating days, I wouldn't do anything else.  I was born to be a mama...that is one thing that I know for certain.   So, in the meantime...I will just stay this course that I have been on for nearly 10 years and not give a great deal of thought to tomorrow, because I know who holds it and HE has great plans for me.

(OK...I am thinking about tomorrow...about how I DON'T have to leave the house ALL FLIPPING day...PJ DAY FOR ME....YIPPPEEEEEE!!!!!)