Just A Mom

In church we have a newsletter for our relief society each month, and each month they do a spotlight on these sisters telling who they are and what they do, where they came from and all sorts of interesting tidbits about themselves.  I really love reading these short bios of the ladies in my church, but I also get a little overwhelmed each month as I learn that another woman is, by far, more interesting than me.  I mean these ladies have done and seen the world, and are educated and have interesting jobs that pay money.  I don't mean to get down on myself at all, or try to compare, but sometimes it's hard when it's right in front of my face.  

My life is simple, and I kind of like it like that, but I sometimes feel like I need to go get a cool job to prove that I am someone and not "just a mom".  Maybe that's it.  Maybe I have a hard time with saying that I am "just a mom".  I know that I shouldn't use the word JUST in that sentence, but other women are moms too, but they also have careers, so it feels like a "just"to me.  Especially since I'm not a perfect mom.  Maybe if I was a super awesome perfect mom I would feel justified in saying I'm just a mom, but I am SO not perfect. I even sometimes wonder what I do all day.  Next year my youngest will be in school full time.  This is sort of new territory for me.  I haven't had a paying job in 11 years, and frankly and don't really want one.  Maybe I would want a part-time one that would coincide perfectly with my kids schedule, but I don't want to leave my full time job of being a homemaker.  Yes there is a lot of drudgery with taking care of the house and kids, but I also love it that I am here for my kids ALL OF THE TIME.  I don't know what life will bring, maybe I will have to get a job later, and if I can find a part-time position somewhere then I would be happy to help pay off the mortgage, but really I like staying home and making it run a bit smoother.  I'm tired of feeling like I'm not doing enough because everyone else has a job and is a mother.  I think there was a time long long ago when being "just a mom" was ok.  What happened?  It is a sacrifice to stay home.  I've sacrificed my "career" to raise these 3 kids.  I wouldn't change any of it, I just wish people would value motherhood fully.
I guess when it's my turn to write a short bio for church the ladies will be bored with my little synopsis, but I really like my life, and I think my kids like are grateful that I'm home too, so I will try to be grateful that I am able to stay home, and strive to make this wonderful crazy home a bit more peaceful and full of joy and love.  

Phineas and Ferb

Apparently we watch this Disney Show too much around here.  If you've ever seen the show you know of the "evil" Dr. Doofenshmirtz who is always inventing a machine to destroy something.  All of his machine names have the ending "inator".  For example, the Changenator-inator, or the Baby-inator, or the Shrink-inator, or the Bake Sale Obliteratinator.  So, the reason I know we watch too much of this, is that my 4 year old was starting to use (inator) after everything.  When I would go running on the treadmill she would ask if I was going to go running on the "run-inator".  And when I would do her hair, she would ask if I was going to use the "curl-inator".

Apparently Dr. D has a big influence around here.  I find myself using these terms now a days too.  Try it.  It kinda makes things sound a bit cooler than they really are!

Video Stores

I miss video stores.  Do you remember Hollywood Video, and Blockbuster?  I even remember when grocery stores had their own little video collection you could browse and rent.  I know Red Box is super convenient, but I miss going to actual brick and mortar video stores and browsing the aisles.  I miss seeing what the employees listed as their favorites.  I actually enjoyed seeing what Joe, and Angie, and all of the other employees recommended as their favorite movies, because sometimes when I walked into the store I didn't know what I wanted to watch, and it was nice to have a recommendation from an actual person..
I know this is a silly thing to miss.  We have more video option at our fingertips then ever before!  With Netflix, Hulu, and all of the other streaming companies I could forever have some movie constantly playing.  Maybe that's the problem.  Maybe there are too many choices out there.  There can be too much of a good thing.  That good thing could even turn into perhaps a bad thing?  My kids as I type are all watching something different, because they can.  Two of them are watching different things on Netflix via our iPads, and one is watching a movie rented from Red-box.  I do put limits on the time they spend doing this, but something about them watching so much, or having so much available bugs me.
I remember the 'good ole days'  when it was a weekend treat to go to the video store and pick out one movie.  Yes, just one lone movie.  Now on the weekend we browse through our instant  queue that has hundreds, even thousands of options, and we can watch these movies back to back if we wanted.
One day in a few decades someone will say, "Hey, we should open an actual store where people can come and look at all of the movies and rent them".  And we will have to let that person know that it was done, and it died.
As I'm typing this I am thinking I probably sound like an old person right now!  I'm not that old, but I do miss those old fashioned video stores!