Staying home

It's easy to take for granted that I get to stay home and focus most of my daily attention to my children. The other day someone was asking me where Pat worked and then where I worked. I told him that I stayed home with my children and he replied, "wow, the nuclear medicine business your husband is in must be pretty good!" I kind of laughed and said, "Not really!"

And yet, we make it work, or we are trying to at least. Pat works on Friday nights in addition to his full-time job. And I always have several jobs- right now I have three. I babysit 3 afternoons a week. I work part-time from home for a local real estate investor as a personal assistant. I also answer the phones (from home) on the weekends for a local real estate company. It's not easy. We definitely regret some of our financial decisions and there are times when it quite frankly just does not work that I stay home. But we are doing our best and I think I am in the right spot right now.

The other day at school- with one day notice- the teacher announced that it was Parent's Day at gymnastics and that any parent was welcome to come watch the class. (Part of Sissy's pre-k program includes a weekly gymnastics class at Wichita Gym which they get to ride in a bus to) This was very bad timing for me. I had a ton of stuff to do and I was hosting a cookie party at my house that night. I approached Sissy about it...

"Sis, hey I have so much I need to get done tomorrow. Would it be okay if I missed Parent's Day and came in the spring when they have it again?"
"No mommy. You can fold laundry another time, I have stuff I want to show you." And that was that.

I was talking to Pat about it later and wondered why I ever dreamed of missing it. So what if my floors weren't mopped? This is why I stay home, to be there when my kids need me! This is a luxury and most women are not so fortunate. So why would I miss it? To mop my floors?!?!



(getting her stamp for a job well-done)

And it was totally worth every second I spent there. Sissy was proud to show off all of her accomplishments and made sure she was doing something to capture my attention every second. And it was great.