Staying home is never boring.  I know that many people say that they’d never be able to do it. . . they would get bored, they would go crazy, they have no desire to.  They would feel like they’d be wasting their brain by not putting it to use somewhere else in society other than staying home for hours on end with a couple of little midget people who rely on you by the day, the hour, the minute to keep them alive and happy.  And I do admit, that somedays I can’t believe that I have made this decision.  That I quit my secure and happy job that doubled our annual family income and kept us in our amazing house in Webster where life is worth living (according to their motto that we will continue to make fun of for as long as we both shall live).    Somedays I am driven crazy by my children and I want to go run in a hole and shake my head until I wake up from this nightmare in which things happen that I surely didn’t think I signed up for with the beginning of pregnancy number one.  Somedays I long for the structure of planning periods and math projects and grading daily journals.  My heart aches for those accelerated students who I used to wish my children would turn out just like.  That paycheck that used to show up every other week in my mailbox that had my name neatly raised on a little black HandiMark sticker, proclaiming to the world that I was a successful person in this society.  I was important to hundreds of students.  Watch my bank account grow steadily because that’s how you prove to everyone that you have made your mark here.  Stuff.  And wealth.  And importance.     

But most days, I am so thankful that God is continuing to provide for us so that I can be important on a seemingly much smaller scale.  I am no longer influencing the lives of a hundred students, but I am shaping and paving the way for the two most important lives.  The two little beings who James and I have brought into this world.  Our favorites.  And now our reason to live, to continue striving to change for the better and a longing to hold onto every special memory that has been created within us.   

Staying home with my boys is the best thing we have decided in our marriage.  I am not trying to put down anyone who hasn’t also made the same decision, but I just know personally that I am not sure I could have it any other way.  I don’t think I’d be able to drop off my boys in the morning to someone else and hope that they “parent” my boys the same way that we strive to.  Knowing that someone else was in charge of my boys for longer than I was.  The fact that I’d only get to see them and influence them for a couple of hours a day before they got tucked into bed, woke up again and I then began the routine all over again in which I dropped them off before even seeing them for a couple of minutes after they woke up.  That definitely wouldn’t be for me.  

I like to be involved.  I like to know exactly how many times Carter has spit up and how long exactly naps were and whether or not Brayden is having a bad-attitude kind of day.  Exactly what was eaten for snack and lunch, and what kind of strategies it took to get Carter past his 30-minute intruder at naptime, and how much t.v. time Brayden was allowed.   I like to be there when Brayden drew his first “real” picture and when Carter sat up for the first time for over a minute.  I thrive on being active with the boys and bringing them on playdates and storytimes and other fun activities.  I think this enhances their lives a hundred fold.  And I know that this just wouldn’t be possible if I was working full-time outside of the home.     

And although our routine always stays the same, things never get boring.  Breakfast always preceeds playtime, which always preceeds lunch and nap time and more playtime and daddy getting home time.  But the things we do everyday change incredibly.  Learning happens and growing takes place.  And it’s so exciting to watch the changes that we all go through.  

So, thank you God for allowing me to be with my boys.  Everyday.  And to shape their lives.  And to teach them and grow with them and love on them like no one else would be able to do.  I am their mom, and I am perfect for the job.  I am so glad I was hired.