Thursday, November 13, 2008

Unemployed? Who? Me?

Have you ever filled out a form for something and there is no space for a woman who is home full-time to mark other than unemployed? I hate marking that as my option.

And let me tell you, hate is not a word I tend to use lightly. Loathe. Despise. Abhor. All good substitutes here. Just wanted to make sure I was being clear.

That it makes me grit my teeth and deeply inhale to put a check in that box. 'Cause you know, I'm on call 24-7. My day does not end until my head hits the pillow and even then, all it takes is one little cry and I'm back on duty.

Please hear me, I have worked full-time outside of the home (6 years) in a field that could be pretty demanding, so I know both sides of the story. I'm not going into that now, but I will admit there was a time in my life -it pains me to say this- that I never thought I could stay at home. Sometimes more for sanity reasons than financial.

I am shamed to admit that I thought I would be bored. There I said it. Perhaps that's why God has blessed me with an 8 yr. old who chose his bedtime reading to be The Life of a Neuron tonight. Or why I have a 2 1/2 yr. old who seems to possess hurricane-like qualities. He's making sure there's not a chance I might be bored.

And also please hear me, I absolutely love being at home. And after my above statement, you can see God's change in my heart. I have come to embrace it. To cherish it. Having the ability to be the keeper of my home constantly. To learn to make my home a refuge for my family. A place of comfort. safety. love. A place where others feel welcome.

The fact remains, it's still work. And it is not easy. And at the beginning of my new career *grin*, I found myself inserting the words "I just" before I said "stay home". Giving it an inferior connotation.

I don't just stay at home. I am not unemployed. I work hard. My time is very occupied.

I just don't have a biweekly paycheck to show for it anymore.

No, now I get paid in full with smiles and sweet kisses. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

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3 comments:

Karen said...

You are influencing 3 lives who will travel the globe with the kingdom of GOD that YOU have planted in them. What else could be more so highly significant? Pushing a few papers and typing a few budgets?

The way our world sees everything is so doggone backward to the kingdom reality, isnt it? But,hey, should we be surprised?

We have discussed all of this ad nauseum so I will spare you any more soap boxing. Oprah is on anyway so I gotta run- you KNOW that is all I do all day...........after my manicures and hour long yoga class........

*grin*

Carl8ta said...

so glad to have found your blog!

pyrotechny said...

I never know what to put on those forms. Because I DO do some office work for our business, and our accountant said it would be good for me to show a "little" income for tax purposes (like $200 a month) But I SO want to increase the statistics for stay at home mothers...i hate some of the ways they skew them (I know, it's the stat. class coming back to haunt me. So I say all this to agree! Why can't there be another option HOME BY CHOICE!