A friend of mine, Erica, recently finished working as a full-time high school teacher. She'll be staying at home with her 11 month old daughter, being "just" a stay-at-home mom. The first week after she finished work, I saw her at the park. "It is so nice not working" she said. "When K took a nap I didn't have to try to get everything done before she woke up. I just did some housework and didn't have to do all the grading or plan lessons..."
And that, right there, is perspective. Who am I to complain about my tough life and lack of time and long to-do list? I don't have a full time job. I don't need to have a full time job, because God has given me a husband who has a job that allows me to stay home. I get to stay home with my children and focus solely on keeping a home and raising them. What a gift!
I know that I will still have days when I feel overwhelmed and under-appreciated. I'm human, and I'm tired, and sometimes the children are cranky. But I'm going to do my best to remember Erica's lesson: "It is so nice not working."
3 comments:
Just found you from Jessica's homemaking through the church year.
I'm a singer too-- though on a much smaller scale. I was a choir-member, rather than the director, of a small "elite" (they told me) ensemble until I had two children.
And now I have three. One of the altos, asking "when" I was coming back ("We *need* good sopranos!") gave me the obligatory, 'You know where they come from, don't you?' line.
And anyway, I always thought Sops were the easiest voice to fill/do.
What's your experience been as a director?
Huh. All that and the reason I commented in the first place was to say I wrote a post about time last month that hits this idea of more time from a little different angle.
Sorry, I guess that's shameless self-promotion... (Does adding a disclaimer-line like that make it 'shamed' self-promotion?)
Anyway, I enjoyed looking at your posts and was left with the question... What did the O-Dr. do that was so awful you want to warn other women?
Did you do a whole post on it at the time?
Oh that is good perspective though I'm sure she'll feel like she is working hard a few kids down the road;)
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