Refrigerated Thoughts

I just finished cleaning and organizing the fridge and freezer, something I've put off forever. While I was doing it, I thought about the age old argument between working women and stay at home moms. Many working women think stay at home moms do nothing all day, let alone something substantial, and that they are letting their minds go to pot causing them to become boring individuals who have nothing to add to a conversation that doesn't revolve around their children. Instead of making me angry, it just makes me sad for these women and their present and/or future children. Nurturing a baby, shaping a child's character and just being there for a child's firsts, joys, sadnesses, and disappointments is not "doing nothing". It is pure joy if you live in the moment, appreciate the little things and keep perspective on how quickly time passes and one day I will be alone and able to do whatever I want to do and I have a feeling that I'll be very sad that these days are over.

Yes, cleaning the fridge is not exciting. No one is going to hand me a paycheck for it, promote me to a better, more prestigious job, or probably even acknowledge it with a pat on the back (though I may get a pat on the butt from V.). That doesn't matter. What matters is that I enjoy making a nice nest for my children and husband, a place where we are all safe and loved, a place where we can hide from the dog eat dog work world, the kindergarten world where you learn that not everyone is kind to you, and the 5 month old world where everything is new, semi-bewildering, and often overwhelming. We all need a safe place to land and that is the reason for everything I do right now in life.

Am I looking out for number one (myself) anymore? Certainly not and thank God. I did that enough in my single days and it was pretty empty after awhile. Lots of freedom and lots of simplicity but at the end of the day, I was certainly much more unhappy then than I am now. I like that I get ready in the morning before taking I. to school and I don't look in a mirror until I've gotten them in the bed and am getting in the shower. To me that's a good sign of a meaningful life and no, I didn't look like something the cat dragged in all day. I take pride in how I look, I just don't have the time to dwell on myself. I'd much rather look into my childrens' eyes and watch their facial expression as they look at something, than look at myself. I know what I look like, I want to memorize their little faces now before they change.

I love this saying because it is so true and snaps me back into perspective when I feel myself getting frustrated with kid situations: "The days are long, but the years are short." Isn't that the truth!