Bus time

Big Brother's bus for preschool comes a little after 12, and so I like to get them bundled up and to let big brother and little brother play outside while we wait for the bus to come. Today, they decided to go across the street, which is not unusual, since Grandma and Grandpa live there (and yes, I know it's like Everyone Loves Raymond.) Big brother decided to ring the doorbell, which I figured wouldn't hurt, the cars were all gone so everyone was probably at work. Surprisingly, Grandma was actually home, so we had a brief conversation before she went inside to work on her homework, and I determined I wouldn't let the kids bother her again.  They went around the side of the house to see the doggies, and everything was just peachy.

Then I see little brother leaning down towards something not so nice. A big plastic (open!) container of motor oil. Then it was like a slow motion play.

(All done to the music from Chariots of Fire)

Mommy starts running towards the baby.

Baby keeps leaning down.

Mommy starts to shout, "Nooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Baby keeps going.

Mommy gets closer.

Baby keeps leaning.

Mommy grabs baby, just as he sticks his whole left hand in the oil.

Time speeds back up and music stops.

Mommy picks up the baby and pulls his hand out away from his body. "Ewww! Looks like Grandma is going to get bothered." Because of course the bus will be here any minute and the oil is dripping all over the place and getting on the babies clothes and shoes, and damage control is needed! Thanks Grandma for the towel!

My job

I have been taking a lot of surveys lately, trying to build up my Swagbucks to help pay for Christmas (which worked really well btw) and I noticed something that started me thinking.  All the surveys asked about my work, usually in two stages. The first one asked if I was employed and had a list of options like, part time, full time, retired, student, etc. The second stage had a list of jobs, such as clerical, administrative, retail, and so forth.

Now, most of the time the first stage had stay at home parent as an option. But the second stage never did. The option that seemed to be there for stay at home parents would probably be "I don't work" although occasionally they had "Other." I'm ok with "Other," but not with "I don't work." I do work. I work all the time. I have a lot of different jobs that fit under the description of stay at home mom. I thought I'd like to do a list of some of those jobs.

I am a cook.

I am a dishwasher.

I am a maid.

I am a travel planner.

I am a photographer.

I am a chronicler.

I am a laundry worker (bigtime!)

I am a milk-maker.

I am a mediator.

I am a translator of strange languages.

I am a mind reader.

I am a scheduler.

I am a student (and teacher) in the school of patience.

I am an owie kisser (I still can't believe that actually works!)

I am a nightmare antidote.

I am a tear wiper.

I am a nurse.

I am a nose wiper.

I deal with toxic waste.

I am an accountant.

I am a chauffeur

I am a storyteller.

I am a decision-maker.

I am a researcher.

I am a teacher.

I am a disciplinarian.

I am a cuddler.

I am a problem solver.

I am a policy maker.

I am a personal shopper.

I am so many other things that are hard to put in words.

And I am always on call. 24/7. I never get a break from being mom. I can be wakened at 2:30 in the morning by a child with croup or baby that had a nightmare who needs soothing. No one else can do my job. I am Mommy.






* I want to add that I am in no way excluding working moms from this list. They do these things while also having to go out and work away from their children. I was a working mom for 9 months, and it was much worse than being a stay at home mom.