Thankful For a Thankless Job

From early on, we are asked what we want to be when we grow up.  Doctor, dancer, painter, photographer, are just a few of the careers that kids dream of having.  I have never asked that question to a child and heard the response "a stay at home mom".  We are taught to shoot for the stars, because you can be anything you dream of being.  Succeed in school, so you can go to a good college, so you can get a job in the career of your choice.  Many women have NO desire to stay at home!  They enjoy their careers, and kids will not change that.  And, I would like to say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that mentality.  It just wasn't what I wanted for my life.

If you had asked me in elementary school what I wanted to be, I would have told you an Olympic figure skater or a gymnast!  I only went ice skating a hand full of times, and my parents couldn't afford gymnastics classes... so I obviously wasn't given the training that this dream would require!  In middle school, my dreams shifted.  I wanted to be a doctor, and the first female president!  I had plans of going to Duke University, and was going to be the best in my field... I just wasn't sure what that would be!  Then I would go on to be the first female president!  By high school, I had decided that I wanted to be a singer.  Professional, of course, like Britney Spears!!  If I wasn't successful, I would fall back on acting!  Being an actress couldn't be too tough (in Greensboro, NC!!!!) right??  After I graduated, I started college, but it wasn't much later that I realized college was NOT for me.  I didn't know what I wanted to do, but spending another 4 years in school was not something I wanted to sign up for!  After years of waiting tables for quick cash, I decided that I wanted to work with kids.  I started working at a daycare center, and spent several years working as a teacher and a nanny to a few families.

I got married at 22, and found myself working as a nanny for an amazing family.  I loved their kids to pieces,

and I knew that I wanted to have some of my own.  I NEVER planned to stay home!  I wanted to have the baby and promptly return to the job I adored.  When I was 5 months pregnant, I was laid off.  The family hit some tough financial times, and I was let go.  I was so sad to leave them, but I found myself in an odd position!  HOME.  I had no job, and was unable to get one, as no one has any desires to hire a pregnant woman.

In February of 2010, we met our daughter.  After a difficult pregnancy that put me on a month of bed rest, I was thankful that I had been given the chance to stay home.  However, it wasn't until my first meet and greet with that little girl, that I decided being home was where I wanted to be.  In order for us to survive on one income, we had to make some sacrifices.  One of those included a relocation for a promotion to another state.  A month after our move... pregnant again.  Another baby meant more expenses, which meant more sacrifices.  You decide quickly what you need versus what you want.

I wanted to stay at home and watch my kids grow up.  I cook, I clean, I do loads and loads of laundry.  I make beds, I tidy rooms, I wash sink full after sink full of dishes!  I make lunches and dinners, I play puzzles, and build forts.  I take trips to the museums and libraries, and sing lots of silly songs.  I run a successful Etsy shop from my home, in which I sell many fun and unique crafts and keepsakes.  I do therapies with my son, and take my daughter to and from preschool 3 days a week.  My husband's long work days and odd hours means I am doing most of the daily grind alone.  I do not have a boss who tells me I am doing a great job.  I am not rewarded for a successful month with a bonus.  I do not accrue vacation time, and there are no medical benefits.  If I want a 401K... I will have to do that myself.  There are many days where I feel unappreciated, and taken for granted.... but I wouldn't trade it for a career that I dreamed of so long ago.  I have days that feel lonely, and days that feel like they will never end... but I am thankful for them.

I CHOSE to stay at home!  I prefer to call myself a CAREER MOM!  I think it comes with a lot less presumptions about what I do in a day!  For a long time, people would ask me what I did for a living, and I would respond...

I'm a Creative Specialist for Domestic Development.

Sounds important, doesn't it!  Well, what I do is important, and I am thankful that I am able to do it.  Each day with my kids is special.  Even if the oldest is coloring on my walls with a permanent marker (it has happened more than once) and the youngest has a diaper issue in which poop ends up all over my floors (again... more than once)... I am still thankful for my job!  Being a mom is work.  You are constantly sacrificing for yourself for the benefiting of your family.  Being a mom who stays at home, is an entirely different type of challenge!  You do NOT get a break!  There are no weekends... you are always in your office!  

BUT... I am thankful... especially for my thankless job!

“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down..."

Nehemiah 6:3