Wife Needed

So I'm a conservative gal...one could even say I'm rather conservative. But I'll tell you one thing, there are times when I totally get the polygamy thing. Like tonight, I'm tired, I'm kinda done with this week already. But my house is a mess, my laundry needs some of my undivided attention, my kitchen is half clean (because my hubby was kind enough to do the dishes while I had child #3 at soccer, therefore it is not 100% dirty...or clean), and to top it all off-I've had a significant case of pms this week....maybe 2 weeks. So with all that said, I could use another wife. You know how on that show two of the wives work and one is like the stay at home mom. And she's there when the kids get home and she makes dinner and does laundry and shopping and the other ones work all day and then come home and dinner is made and they sit down and eat...kinda like a lot of men normally do. It's because those two who work have a wife. They have a wife that does all the wife/mom things. I need one of those. Someone who keeps things going when I don't feel like it. One time I was sick for several weeks. And I mean super sick, like sick in bed could barely getup to use the bathroom sick for several weeks. My hubby was telling me that he was keeping up with the house out there, but bless his heart, it took me more than a week to get my house back in running condition when I was finally back on my feet. This is because he is not a wife. He very willingly let's me stay home. It was really tough in the early years to give up a second income, but we made the choice and started trying to live with it. Now I am convinced that having a stay at home wife really changes things in a mans mind. I think men become convinced that if they have a stay at home wife, who brings in no money, then they in return should have to do no work at home, should be waited on like a king or something. Now, while I can agree and accept that when one spouse doesn't work, the division of labor in the home should be aligned differently than when both spouses work....I get that, I'm down with it, I wanted to stay home, that's what I signed up for. But people, please. There has to be a boundary. A line where the man steps in and takes care of things and the household carries on. Rare is the man who can do this. What my husband calls clean is not what I call clean. But there is a perfectly good explanation for this. He's a man, a husband to be exact. Not a wife. I need me a wife to pick up where I just can't quite pull it all together. Yep, a wife would be awesome. Now if she tries sleeping with my hubby....there's going to be problems.

It's Been A While

So, as it turns out, this blogging thing is not as easy as I thought. It's not too easy to think of something interesting to say...very often. Though there are lots of moments of hilarity, there are also lots of moments of monotonous boredom in the life of a stay at home mom.
Does anyone really want to hear about how I can't quite keep up with my laundry? How you shouldn't drop in on me and expect my bathroom to be clean enough for company? How I can't even remember the last time my bedroom was clean?
There's not too much excitement in all of these daily facts of my life.
I guess the most exciting things that have happened recently is that I have had sick kids, a little strep throat has been going around. When I was at the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics, my son proudly announced my pin number to everyone in the vicinity after he watched me pay....go ahead and steal my pin, I assure you it won't be worth the criminal effort.
It's just been daily life around here: school, laundry, cooking, dishes, baths, Dr. appointments, naps....all the regular stuff.
I am quite excited that my little peanut is going to soon be getting hearing aides, that will be great! And I did, with a lot of help from my sister in law, give my new 7 year old a fabulously girly makeover party.
Other than that it has just been regular life around here.

How I Became A Mother

I love being a mother. I love staying home with my children, I love seeing all the funny things they do and say. I do run out of patience....often, but I still wouldn't change it for the world.
Sometimes I start to feel a little bit like I'm not contributing anything to society, like I would like to do more than I am, be important to someone other than the occupants of my house.
I hear so many women talk about their professions, what they do all day, the people they meet; and pathetically think to myself that the only thing I could add to the conversation is how quickly I can change a diaper and how it doesn't even gross me out when snot flies everywhere when my baby sneezes.
It can be quite isolating to have young children...especially when you have a multitude of them. Still, I would never want to miss these years of their lives. There will, hopefully, be so many more years that I can work, but I only have these few fleeting years when I can be home, and have them all to myself and let them have me all to themselves.
For this reason I love being a mother. I never thought that I would be here where I am at this point in my life.
I had my first child as a teenager. I found out I was pregnant a few months after I graduated from high school. It was shocking, I never thought that I would be that girl. I was raised in a very conservative Christian home, I knew better...but I did IT anyway. I was scared, I didn't know what to do. My family was nothing less than completely supportive even though they were disappointed. I went back and forth for months between keeping the baby and adoption. In the end I decided to keep the baby, his father was not supportive of adoption, and neither were my parents.
I had a baby boy. Two months later his father and I decided to get married.
I wasn't the best mother you will ever find. My new hubby and I both worked at night and stayed up late. Therefore, we let him stay up; therefore, we all slept late as well. I didn't feed him well....I propped his bottles up with a teddy bear and have pictures of him sitting in his crib eating french fries when he was less than a year old. He survived...he's actually my healthiest eater now.
I went on to be a baby making machine....or at least I felt that way. I had three more children in the next four year. In the interest of full disclosure, this does include a set of twins.
Eight years later I still am struggling with patience. I'm in my last year of having any children at home full time. My babies will be going to kindergarten, I'll be alone. Alone? I'm not sure I know what that is anymore. How will it feel? What will I do? I'm sure I'll figure it out!
There have been plenty of other challenges along the way....when to make the jump from working mother to stay at home mother, when to give up and buy the minivan, what to do with three daughters separated by only two years.
There have been more serious issues as well....the financial challenges of a growing family and shrinking income, a child's serious illness which turned into my biggest challenge as a motherin the form of a child with special needs.
Motherhood has definitely been a journey, a fun journey, a sleepless journey, a cute journey, a heartbreaking journey. I think I have felt every emotion. I have gone from the painful depths of the near death of one of my babies to the "joys" of taking four kids to Disneyland.
There's lots of challenges. I haven't enjoyed all of them, but I don't regret any of them. HOWEVER, if I am being completely honest, I do cringe to think about what is ahead.