The Andersons

My New Job

There is much debate about which is harder, being a working mother or being a stay at home mom. I am lucky enough to get to sample both, as I have a job where I am off about 6-8 weeks in the summer. But the hardest thing is transitioning between the two. Every summer, I spend the first few weeks just trying to find my footing - trying to fingure out, "What is my job?". Although it looks like it would be simple, it really takes some adjustment.

My typical day at work consists of as much control and order as I can pull off. I am NOT an organized person but I do feel like I have "control" over my day. At the beginning of the year things are pretty hairy. But by second semester, I feel like I'm a bit more with it. Have you noticed how much easier it is to make other people's kids mind?

As most of you know, my afternoons and evenings after work are often spent at home alone with my children. So, sometimes, home is more stressful for me than my job. The summer months are just an extension of this.......

The kids evidently feel like they have free reign of the house and are intent on trying to open every cabinet and drag out every thing they haven't had the time at home to look at in the last nine months. They are also used to being occupied and entertained so I end up feeling like "activities coordinator". When you have to be "cop" and "activities coordinator", who has time to be the "cook", right? No, three meals (or more) must be prepared and cleaned up each day. My dishwasher runs at least 3 times every day in the summer.

In the first few days, I think that being at home 24 hours a day with both the kids will make me go out of my mind. But after a week or so, I get my groove. I realize that there is no conference tomorrow or homework or therapy to plan for. This is my new job-- full time parent. And the summer months make me enjoy being a parent even more.

Thank you, God, for blessing me with a wonderful job where I am given this opportunity.