SAHM: Reflections

I was reading a listserv email that I couldn't believe this morning.  I'm on a few mom listservs - you know, we email around with questions or events.  Anyway, one of the moms was looking for a baby sitter to come to her home from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 to get the baby ready and bring them to the regular day care facility at 7:30. 

Wow, that's rough.  I understand that there are situations where moms need to work outside the home, even those that want to work (there are days that I can really get that), but this was one that kind of broke my heart for her and her babe.  I'd never make a judgement because each person's situation is so unique, and what works for one wouldn't work for another.

I won't be a stay at home mom forever but I sure am glad that I can do it now.  It's a tough thing.  The days are long, the messes are many.  It's difficult to maintain a sense of self independent of motherhood.  But I wouldn't trade this time, those small moments dancing in the rain or reading stories together.

Oh, and a big shout out to Heber who makes it possible for me to be home.  He works so hard for us.

Simple Living

I'm not sure why but I've been thinking lately about the world we live. Just think, about the simplest and most common thing to our lives like cars or temperature controlled rooms have come into being in the last hundred years. These things that are so integral to the way we live did not even exist.

I remember using our old apple computer to pull up DOS and getting my first email account in middle school. Today, I know of babies who have email addresses (no joke). Kids have cell phones and are what are called "internet natives." How fast things are changing. Everyday there is a new technology that changes the way we live and we are moving away from the simpler times.

For hundreds, if not thousands of years, people lived in much the same way. They lived on their land, they interacted with their family and lived simply. Today, its a completely different world. From almost the moment we are born, we are connected with a world wide network.

Hebs and I just watched the documentary "Babies" that follows four babies from across the globe from birth to their first steps. Not sure I'd recommend for kids but I digress. They followed a baby in tribal Africa. They didn't wear clothes and spent their time grooming. Watching how drastically different they live was a stark reminder of how the world is changing.

Perhaps watching all of this change makes me yearn for life to be simple. It feels like we are pushed and pulled in so many directions and miss out on what is really important like family and friends. People are so focused on being successful that they forget what would actually make them happy. And the secret here is that its not money.

Do you see it too?