What Does A SAHM Do All Day???

I'm not being defensive. I'm really not.

Okay maybe I am being a liiiiittle defensive.

Ever since I quit working (um, when Ryan was born almost 18 years ago) I feel like all I do is defend my decision to sit around the house all day and do nothing while Rob works his butt off.

Wait...no, that's not right.

I mean, I don't exactly do nothing. I do read books, and bake, and paint, and take naps, and workout with my personal trainer, and get massages, and eat meals that my personal chef prepares for me and...

...Yeah right.

I remember right after I quit working, when I had a newborn, a one-year-old, and a two-year-old, (go ahead and form a mental image of me trying to grocery shop back then...there's your good laugh for the day) those Army wives where we lived would start to visit with me and ask what I do for a living and then when I would reply that I stay home with my kids it was like they had nothing to say to me anymore. Suddenly I was invisible and not worth their time. One literally stopped talking to me mid-sentence and walked away. After awhile I wondered what they thought I would do in the middle of nowhere Louisiana anyway?! I could have worked for royalty...Dairy Queen or Burger King, hahaha. But somehow that didn't seem worth my time away from my boys, or worth the price of daycare!

Over the years I have thought about going back to work or even doing something from home, but I really could not bear to give up the time I spend getting my hair and nails done, or the time I lounge watching soap operas and Oprah, or the time I spend shopping at my favorite boutiques.

Ehem. Can I get a big "yeah right" again?

I am simply amazed by the women who can pull it off. The women who can work and care for kids and care for home and care for husband and somehow still manage to care for self.

I. Am. Not. That. Woman.

I can't do all that. But that doesn't mean I do nothing all day. SO if I don't get you called back right away or I can't take you to do all of your errands or you think it's so insensitive of me to make Rob do all the work...here's a lil' peak into my average week. This is what I accomplished just in this last week:

I had orthodontist appointments, taught at Stake Auxiliary Training (designed a flyer and a handout for that by the way), renewed my Youth Protection certification, fed the missionaries, attended a Ward Talent Show, went to the temple with Tyler twice, made a corsage and boutonniere, took and edited Prom photos and dropped off my son and his date, went to lunch with Rob, went to lunch with a wonderful friend, had a date night with Rob, talked to about 50 teenagers at a Youth Discussion, went Visiting Teaching, took my mom to the mechanic's shop twice, worried and prayed about my brother who had a court/custody hearing and another brother who was in jail, did yard work, gave haircuts, went to a band concert, (missed the swim banquet but hey, I got the swimmer there), in addition to all the other normal stuff like writing my missionary and dance lessons and seminary and school pick-ups and drop-offs and meals and grocery shopping and nightly family scripture study, etc, etc, etc...

And I honestly LOVE my job! I love being a mom! I love being looked down on for "staying at home" all day. I love being my kids confidant, disciplinarian, stalker, friend, sounding board, advisor, counsellor, teacher, and hopefully hero.

But most importantly as a stay-at-home-mom, I know my kids are being taught the values I want them to teach their children and their children's children. Values that make them contributing members of society and just good people generally. Values that help them to know how to care for themselves and how to help others.

This is the real reason I am a SAHM. The other stuff is just fluff...this is my real purpose and I know it:

In a world where values are eroding and family relationships are devalued, I stand for modesty, fidelity, reverence, honesty, hard work, charity and kindness. As a mother, I feel I have a most important role in keeping the filth, chaos, contention, despair, and ungodliness of the world out of my home. I try to raise my children in an environment of peace and love, innocence and safety, faith and courage, hope and joy.

Now where did I leave that box of bon bons?  ;)