Mar. 6, 2008
Babies Don't Keep
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Well, as much as I'd like to claim super-woman status....I'm not thinking that Super-woman is phased by the flu. It's a bit humbling for me to be sick for any length of time though, because I am a bit of a health fanatic. But, hey, whatever. I'm on the mend and -- I gotta be grateful for that! One thing about being down-and-out for several days, though, is that you really are forced to just stop everything. Of course, that's not an easy thing for adults who have families to raise and have a laundry-list of things to do running through our minds all day, every day. The result of all of that is that I've had more time than usual to think about all sorts of things. Bless my poor family's heart! I have more opinions running through my mind on every imaginable subject..... Can I just say that there is so much junk on television these days!? I've watched more television in the last few days than I have in a long time. Occasionally, I'd come upon some interesting things though. One show, that I watched, with some interest, but slightly more boredom was this, apparently, new show called "The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom". My oldest son will be 13 in a few months, so I've obviously been a full-time mom for quite a few years. The show itself was just something to wile away the time, but it got me to thinking.... Now, seriously, y'all know I'd grow a pinocchio nose if I tried to say that I'd be doing anything other than writing. I'm too much of an open book for anyone to have been caught off-guard there. But, this show seems to pose the question -- 'Was it worth the trade off?' -- For me, well, I never had a promising career in writing prior to having children...heck, I was only eight days shy of 24 years old when my first child was born. But, this got me to thinking (over-thinking, as usual), doesn't everyone sort of incorporate their passions into their lives in some way? Can I not have more than one thing that drives me to get up every morning? For me, I have no misgivings about my choice to be home with my children. It's the hardest job on earth, no doubt, but -- I'm not one to let that stand in my way. "Hard" = "challenge" to me, and challenge is a good thing for me. I'm too easily bored without challenge. I am of that, annoying, variety who when told that I can't do something....I say, -- "Watch me". I don't always succeed to my own satisfaction with everything that I try to do, but hey, that just goes back to not being Super woman again..... Ohhh, there are those days when I'd like to drive my children up to the nearest school house and drop them off at the door.....but, well, honestly, who doesn't have days like that? I feel lucky....more appropriately, blessed, to be able to do what I do. I feel, sometimes, like I have the best of both worlds. I can write and bore my friends and family to tears right here in blog-land and, yet, still be able to do what I feel called to do. Which for me, for such a time in my life as this, that calling is being home with my sweet, loud, beautiful, active, LOUD (ask me about my morning!) children. So, this question of ---Is it worth the trade-off? --- I dunno. Good grief....I'm not gonna go looking a gift horse in the mouth. I will tell ya that, had I missed those giggles, and those first steps and all of the many milestones of my children's lives....I'd look back with regret. Will I regret not finding my niche in the world of media -- maybe? On the bad days, probably. But, friends, in my estimation, the only significant similarity between apples and oranges -- is that they are both fruits. Beyond that....why compare two, very obviously, different things? There can be, and are, many facets that are the making of - me. I can enjoy writing 'till the cows come home.....but, that's not my biggest passion. I've got a family to raise and to love and to enjoy. And, so there ya go, --- my confession of the secret life of a homeschooling mother. It's just not all about me. Hallelujah. There are those who aren't called to the whole 24/7 motherhood gig....and I don't begrudge them that at all! Who am I that I should tell others what is in their own hearts? Nope, I'm not going there. The fact of the matter is that being a mom, no matter what else we do, is not easy for any of us. Why is it that folks can get so caught up in the nonsense of making comparisons and making judgments that we miss so much along the way? I want my mom-friends to follow their own passions. I want them to be whoever it is that God made them to be. And, I'm not arrogant enough to assume that God made them all to be like me! God's got a way to giving us all of the guidance that we need, and all of the support that we need to do what He desires for each of us to do. I've got enough difficult things to wade through in life without thinking that I need to set the bar for all of my mommy-friends. Boy, I sure wouldn't make a good god. I think that I'll leave that all to Him and I'll just be a friend to my friends. In this diverse world where some of us are at home, and some of us are also working outside of the home, -- I think that the biggest thing that we can all agree on is that --- Babies don't keep. Simple as that.....no secret to navigate. We all just want to enjoy our babies and treasure these moments in time that we'll never be able to revisit. And we all just want to do what the Lord has put in our hearts to do. So, I don't think that I'll be watching this particular program again. It's not a bad program. Just, to me, a bit irrelevant. As moms....we do what we do out of the outpouring of our hearts, and that, goes back to our grandmothers and their grandmothers -- it's a primitive thing -- it's not about our heads...it's about our hearts. |