Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Where does the time go?

I am sad that I haven't found the time for blogging that I wish I had. There is so much to do and so little time to do it in. I have been busy with Graduate School--working on my MA in English with an emphasis in Composition (only 2 more semesters after this one!!!!). I have been deciding on my next school step--M.ed in Administration or Secondary Ed or an EdD in Teaching and Learning Process. These are all hard questions. I am an academic. I absolutely love school and learning and I have begun to admit that I miss teaching.


I then have been busy trying to figure out this whole stay-at-home mom thing. I am not a domestic wife. I like to cook--but I really like to cook gourmet food. I like a clean house--but will do anything to acutally avoid cleaning anything. So I have been trying to figure out how to feel good about staying home but not really doing any housework. It has been a tougher adjustment than I had anticipated or even admitted.


Then there in Minnow--my wonderfully mobile toddler. He is going to be one in a couple weeks and I am busy planning his family party. My entire family lives here so it will by default be a "big" party. I have to order the cake, etc. But Minnow...he is so adorable and getting so precocious. He is into everything. He is growing and changing so fast. He is an absolute joy and he is wearing me out....

3 comments:

PastormacsAnn said...

Get your runnin' shoes on because he's just going to get faster and I'm sure even more adorable.

writex3 said...

Look how long his hair is getting - cute!!!

Karen said...

Being a stay at home mom is a full time job. It is not the same thing as being a housewife. That's a different job. Your husband has a job somewhere outside the house. You have a job inside the house. It's not fair to expect a woman at home full time with a toddler to also clean and cook (and in some families do the yard work, too). I realize this may be a controversial position. But I stand by it. Maybe when Minnow is in school every day, it's reasonable for you to do the housework. But for now, it's just not a fair expectation (and I don't mean to imply that your husband expects that of you, but it sounds like you expect it of yourself).

I was a full time English teacher until our son came home. Once we met him, I moved into a more admin-like position. Then I started law school. Our goal is for my husband to stay home full time with the kids. I won't expect him to do all the cleaning and laundry when he does. Sure, it'd be nice. But he's not staying home to clean and do laundry and cook. Before we had kids we divided that work. Because we were both working. We still divide the work, with two kids. Because we're both working outside the home. And when he finally quits his day job to be a stay at home dad, I expect we'll still divide the work. Because we'll both still be working.

I realize this is not probably a popular point of view. I get frustrated when women who stay home comment that they "don't work." I think they undersell their important role in their kids' lives. I think they sell themselves short. Being a mom is unquestionably an honor. But it's also unquestionably work-- whether you do it full time, at home, or you do it while also working outside the home.

Karen in San Diego
http://bsinchina.blogspot.com