Defining Me

If I was asked to describe who I am, I could easily list off a few things.

1. I'm a Knitter (with a capital K).
2. I'm a Mom
3. A friend
4. A wife
5. An artist
6. An occasional runner (shhh. I will be again one day).

To be honest, since becoming a full time stay at home Mom, I haven't put much thought into how others see me.  I get through the day to day.  Breakfast, getting dressed, driving to pre-school, picking up, playing, laughing, making more food, cleaning more things up, doing laundry etc. etc.  It's just my life.  (And one I love).

I was tucking Grace into bed a few nights ago, and she had on her lap her favorite Richard Scarry book.  It was opened to the page about 'Workers' and I sat down next to her to read it before she fell asleep. 

It was about a goat of some sort, that was a farmer, who bought a tractor from someone else, who bought some eggs, bought his wife a gift (it's true!), and his son and then put the rest of his money in the bank.  I think it was trying to show how the world economically goes around and around.  However, there were then three questions on the page. 

The first:  What does your Dad do for work?  Grace quickly replied "He builds tall towers".

Second :  What does your Mom do for work?  She paused, she lowered her head.  I asked her again.  She shrugged her shoulders in a gesture of "I don't know".

Then I paused.  And I said "I take care of you".

The third was "what do you do".  She also couldn't answer that. 

But I have been thinking on this off and on, ever since.  And what gets me, is that my Mom was a stay at home Mom.  And I don't have any particular strong memories of her being there.  I think it's because she always just was.  I never knew any different.  Nor does Grace. 

And for that I'm kind of thankful.  That she doesn't remember those two years of being in a dayhome.  That she only knows this, now. 

But the other side of me wishes there was a definition for who I am, what I do.  To tell another adult I'm a SAHM, denotes a certain image of what I do (obviously depending on their own personal experience of to them what a Mom does).  But to a child?  To my kids? 

When people asked me what my Mom did, I told them she was a Microbiologist.  For she was, at night and on holidays.  But me?  I'm this.  A Mom.  That is me.  It is what I do.  It's almost as if socially, a Mom doesn't exist in the repertoire of "workers".  My Mom pointed out perhaps it would help if books like Richard Scarry incorporated the various roles of women who work, including those who work at home raising their children.

I do know I want to be more than shoulder shrug.  That I want to have my kids be able to answer when asked, what I do, and be strong, proud, and sure of the answer.

Now I just need to work with my family, and my kids, as to what that answer will be. 

What are your thoughts?

The Kitchen is for the Bats

Yesterday when Grace got out of pre-school, she wanted to go across the hall and say hello to her previous 3 year teachers assisstant, Mrs. K.  On the way out the door, I noticed a bunch of bats hanging on the ceiling that the kids had decorated.  I got that excited feeling that we too, needed bats.

During naptime today, Grace and I got down to our batty business.

I cut them out (for the sole reason we couldn't find her scissors at the time).  Then she glued on some googly eyes, and painted them with glitter glue.

There are a total of six bats now hanging out over our kitchen table. 

If you are looking for a quick easy craft for your toddler or pre-schooler, these were alot of fun :)

Home Again Home Again!

We're home! 

After a flight from Lihue Kauai, to Seattle on Saturday, a stay in a somewhat sketchy hotel, then a flight from Seattle to Calgary, we arrived home last night at 5 pm. 

It was so good to be away, but so good to be back home.  Into our own beds last night.  Grace was determined to go to pre-school this morning, so we are already back in routine.

We have some serious Fall catch up to do, and I see alot of crafts in our near future.

 Aidan's first time at the beach

 So many days spent at the pool

 Turtles!

 Geckos loving Aidan's chair

 A photo from our daily walk into town while on the Big Island

 Tears over Icecream melting too fast

 Goodbye Big Island, Hello Kauai!

 Nate arrives and catching lizards begins!

The Tunnel of Trees

Aaaah home!

Turning toward home

Today is Monday, and my thoughts are starting to turn towards our journey home. We fly to Honolulu, then Seattle on Saturday. Sunday will bring us home. We arrive in Calgary in the early evening, but will be facing a 4 hr time adjustment with the kids. It would be easy to try and jump right back into the busyness of our day to day routine at home, but this post ( http://simplemom.net/post-vacation-peace-for-kids/) on simple mom caught my attention yesterday. I'm starting to think about what is ahead the week we come home, what is important, what isn't, and how we can let these laid back days of ours linger for a little while longer.

Here's what I've learned on this trip:

You can get by with a lot less. Less clothes, shoes, toys, STUFF. I'm thinking of how to clean out a bit when we get home. Make everything a bit simpler. I've found simpler to be less stress, and much easier to maintain.

Coming down the pipe:

Three days a week of preschool, the start of me teaching some knitting classes (yes!), Halloween, pumpkin parties, inlaws visiting, and graces surgery. Phew! Even typing that out makes me spin a bit.

Going to take some tips from the article and figure out on a day to day basis what will keep me calm, so I can ease the transition back for the kids too.

Today:

Thinking of all those celebrating thanksgiving today. Knitting on graces blanket. Possibly headed to the beach. Life is good.

Update

Nate has been with us now for a week. It's bliss. Gone are the stresses of daily life, and all I see is the friend I married. The one who makes me laugh, who holds my hand, who plays with the kids in the ocean and pool for hours. A week away with the one you love is enough to make you fall in love all over again.

The kids are good. Aidan has cut all four eye teeth, and is a new boy. He too is easy to fall in love with all over again when his boy behavior doesn't seem so foreign to me. It probably helps his dad is with us 24/7 and understands boys far more than me!

With Nate here, lizards are caught, four year old girls are taught how to hold them, and proudly parade around with them no different than being at home playing with our dog. It's enough for her to think her mother should hold a lizard too. So I did. Just once. Nate laughed til he almost cried.

We had a date day on Friday without the kids and went on a kayaking trip down a river, then on a hike to some hidden waterfalls. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

One more week before we head home. I'm soaking all of this in. The sun, the sand, the laughter, the warmth of family.