Recently I was directed to a mommy blog entry that made me so unnatural mad that I almost didn’t read it. It was entitled: “Dear Stay-at-Home-Mom, please, Shut UP!” Which you can read (here), and the whole article was about how sick and tired this author was with SAHM’s and their constant complaining about their children and husbands and all around life as a mother.
You can imagine what my reaction was: “Ugh! What a Witch! (With a capitol B) How dare she so blatantly write a blog about my life as a mother without even consulting me! (rude) and I had just read the title. I knew this blog was about me. I know that I am that SAHM that basically lives and breaths for the opportunity to complain about my children to any random stranger that is willing to entertain my whims. Heeellooooo! You do read this blog, right? So yeah, complaining about my kids is one of my greatest joys about being a mom. With that being said, I was highly offended that the author didn’t agree with my sentiment.
And I almost didn’t read it.
Almost.
I wasn’t going to, (mostly because the repost of the blog had a self-important introduction attached to it) but if someone is going to be so arrogant as to write about you without ever actually talking to you then you know this drama is gonna be good! **
So I read it. And I realized…
She was right.
In fact, I didn’t even realize how right she was until the very next day my husband and I made the trip down to my oldest daughters Public school to be witness to a ceremonial Breakfast for all the “Scientists of the Month”. A title reserved for only the brightest, most passionate and the children of the best looking parents that this school had to offer. But mostly I think they just pick a student randomly. Either way, there is an award ceremony and a pancake breakfast and it is fun and achievement had by all!
All, except, for the little boy who sat next to me as I watched my daughter receive her award. He happened to be in my daughters class and was also being recognized for his massive intellect, but there was no parent there to celebrate with him and after watching all these parents fawn all over their children, he couldn’t hold it in anymore and he began to sob.
I didn’t even realize until a teacher had sat next to him and putting her arm around him asked if he was going to be okay. This little boy whimpered while nodding and when the teacher asked if it was because his parents couldn’t be there, he choked back another sob.
I had never thought about it before… But both his parents work. That mom gets to leave the house everyday and deal with adult issues and maybe gets to talk to other adults. She probably gets to have a bathroom break without a child sitting in the stall with her asking her for water. She probably even got to eat her Lunch hot and in a calm and orderly fashion. Maybe she even got to read a book while on her break… This little boys parents are both teachers. They make a living. They get to have a breather from their stay-at-home lives by going out into the real world. They make the brave choice to leave their child everyday in order to educate mine.
And I never… realized how completely… and utterly blessed I am as a stay-at-home-mom…
until that…
very…
moment…
My daughter was being recognized. She had achieved something that she had always wanted. She was so excited to tell me and she counted down the days until her breakfast and she told me about it every opportunity she got… I mean like every single one. All I heard about for days was this “Scientist of the Month Breakfast” and when she finally accepted her award from her principles she practically glowed.
And I got to be there for that.
Now, it is very important that you realize that I am not knocking working parents. Because I commend those that are both full time employee’s and full time parents. What they do is selfless and always for their children and their families.
But I get to be there… for everything. For every baby step. For every milestone. For every “Scientist of the Month Breakfast” And as much as I complain and as many days there are where I spend half of it screaming and half of it crying it still beats anything else that I could be doing. Because even with my bitching and complaining, I would never want to do anything else. I would never want to be anywhere else.
So thank you Blogger for being painfully honest about how selfish we can be. You are absolutely right. I just needed to realize how blessed I really am and how I would never trade any of it for the world.
…
Although, Its probably not going to stop me from complaining.
Antenella
**I don’t for any reason actually think that this blogger is writing about me specifically. I have never met this women and I doubt she even knows I exist. So when I say she is writing about me, I mean more in a figurative way as opposed to the literal way. So please don’t sent her nasty letters in order to defend my good name. Because everyone knows that I have no such thing.**
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