A friend from high school emailed me years ago to say how much she enjoyed reading my blog. As a prospective stay-at-home-mom, she was thankful to see that my “job” had opportunities to exercise the gray matter floating between my ears (those were not her words–she was MUCH more eloquent).
I do have to say that my main source of “exercise” in this area is due to the fact that we homeschool. I sometimes think I’ve learned more than my kids! I now have a passion for history that never existed before. I understand the WHY behind math concepts that used to be a mystery. I look forward to each school year for what I will glean from the lessons as I teach them to my children.
However, there is a second way in which I exercise my gray matter that often ends up being ignored. It comes in the form of the myriad of logistical issues that arise from the daily life of a large family.
Sometimes it involves coming up with a workable laundry system. Sometimes it is reconfiguring bedrooms to get ONE MORE BED in there. Other times it is simply a matter of getting all 5 little people to be quiet at the same time!
Motherhood isn’t for dummies!
You gotta stay on your toes. You have to be a thinkin’, movin’, workin’ machine or else the 4 foot and under crowd will leave you in the dust! Whoever thinks I spend my days wiping noses and changing diapers and never manage to have a creative thought or a time when I speak with an adult vocabulary is sadly mistaken. How in the world did motherhood get reduced to the lowest common denominator?
I am passionate about my role as wife and mother, and anyone passionate about what they do will do an excellent job at it. (Not that I think I’m “excellent”, but I am having fun!) So, contrary to popular opinion, it truly is possible to be a housewife and mother and still be required to use your brain on a regular basis. In fact, “regular basis” would be the understatement of the year!
The mind is a terrible thing to waste…Praise the Lord we have motherhood!
Speaking of motherhood, visit my BlogFrog community and hit me with your best morning sickness remedies!
I suffered worse morning sickness with each pregnancy. In fact I called it “mourning” sickness because I missed my non-nauseated days.
During my last pregnancy, I was losing my cookies until the day I delivered. To combat the ill-feelings, I drank a bottle of Perrier sparkling water every day. That particular brand of sparkling mineral water helped calm my queasiness, especially when it was ice cold. I guess it’s no wonder that my daughter has beautiful blue eyes now, right?
Hope this passes soon,
Liz in CA
I was going to say “Amen” too! I guess I still will
Thanks for this post, I needed it today, and for the record I completely agree.
Amen! Great post. My mental capacities have been challenged more by being a mom than by any “real job” I ever had. I think one of my hobbies can now be listed as “problem solving” – whether it be regarding discipline issues, organizational issues, schedule issues, efficiency issues… there’s always SOMETHING for me to be thinking about and trying to find a good solution for!
I have no advice for morning sickness – I will be praying it gets easier for you!!
Hello Amy. Congratulations on your pregnancy. What a blessing!!!
I found that Ginger Tea helped with morning sickness. Also, my doctor at the time, gave me a shot of vitamin B for sickness and fatique – it helped tremendously. I think I went twice for the shots – and that was it. I was better within in days.
Go here to see why Vitamin B is so crucial. Vitamin B6 and B12. http://www.babycenter.com/0_vitamin-b6-in-your-pregnancy-diet_666.bc
The B shots are better than the vitamins. Vitamins are not as easily absorbed, so things to consider are powdered forms of Vitamin B or shots.
Please always talk to your doctor before taking the advice of a lay person.
xox
I hope this helps.
All my regards and love,
So happy for you, Amy.
Jasmine
Far Above Rubies
What a great post. I agree with you 100% “MOTHERHOOD IS NOT FOR DUMMIES.” If people were to spend one day doing what we do they would find we are very intelligent human beings. When did this all happen that being a mother is a lowly job. It is God’s highest calling to us women and we will see our rewards in heaven.
As for morning sickness i have heard to eat beans whenever possible. I’m gonna try it.
My husband and I completely agree. What a great true post. It is certainly not for dummies and lazy people. There is so much to do, manage, learn. The enrichement comes at you from every front. Most of all I love the convicting and spiritual enrichment of it all, as we really have to learn to depend on Christ. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodess, How true!!! Oh and CONGRATS on your pregnancy. You are BLESSED!
Xoxo
What a FABULOUS post! I totally agree
I have found homeschooling to be a great help in my OWN education and desire to increase my knowledge. I recently have the desire to learn Spanish, and hope to pursue this in the near future (along with my kids). We have a large Mexican population in our town… what a great way to minister to others in our community if I had the ability to communicate with them.
And the logistics of running the house is brain stretching indeed! Managing schedules, keeping house, budgeting, and bringing up children to be responsible citizens… it’s no easy task!
Great post and very true! It is sad how our culture has reduced motherhood to optional and only for those who can contribute to society in no other way. Sad.
Amy – so happy to hear about the new pregnancy!!! Yeah!!!
I wish I had a remedy. I was horribly sick with each pregnancy – for my first I got to 90 something lbs., I was sooo sick. As a matter a fact, I was so sick, that I always weighed less than EVER while pregnant. Amazing!
I just barely made it through my days -eating whatever it was that I could keep down!
Absolutely! I hate that people think that mothers are stupid and boring. I’m constantly thinking “So what can I say to motivate my 2-year-old to do what she needs to and stay calm? How can I get everyone to eat and take naps and get all our chores done?” etc. all the time! It’s not easy! And I only have two so far, lol.
Morning sickness — I used to drink ice water with lemon in it a lot. B vitamins, as another said. Sucking on peppermint candies can help too. Eating protein and keeping something in your stomach at all times. Eating only what sounds good to you. I’ve never had bad morning sickness. It was worse with my daughter than my son, but even then I just really, really hated food and could only eat something that really sounded good to me. I hope you feel better soon!
Oh Amy! I love reading your posts! I so want to put passion into being a wife and a mother. Most days I am successful. I think motherhood has been “dumbed” down because too many parents don’t take the time to bring their children up the way they should…they do what is easy. It’s so hard in this culture to do what is right and so that takes a lot of grey matter!
Amen!
You’re right we use lots of mental faculties in mothering and managing a household. I have to say my life is LOTS less stressful than when I was trying to do it all, but I’m always challenging myself to read and think regardless of what my “job” is. It’s exciting to me that we will have all eternity to learn about God and His creation.
Thanks for this post I will be sending a link to it to my Sister in law. She is a new SAHM (her baby just turned one)and she was at QT the other day and two women were talking about how SAHMs didn’t have a thought of thier own. I gasped when she said it and I am just glad she can read this for a bit of encouragment. Thanks.
Amy, I work harder now, physically and mentally, than I ever did working outside the home. This is MUCH more rewarding and fun–I get to be with my kids all day long.
Morning sickness–A drop of straight peppermint essential oil on the tongue. I use Young Living Oils. However, if you are nursing when you become pregnant, peppermint can cause you to dry up so don’t use too much. Laura
Amen to all of thee above! I really needed to know their are other Mama’s out there like me right now!!!
I love this post! I found your blog via Melissa from Heart Prints.
Preach it, Sister!
I look forward to homeschooling in the coming years, too, in part because I’m excited to relearn some things that I probably never really “learned” in the first place!
I hope you can find the time to take care of yourself throughout this pregnancy!
Love,
Angela
Oh that’s so true! I love each new year as well! But I need to remained focused throughout it. I admit, there are times I do as little as possible and I don’t like doing that (in the way of home school). I really want my heart fully devoted to it.
Right now, dealing with fatigue and morning sickness is my main concerns. Trying to get through each day is the best I could do. When I first found out I was pregnant, I diligently worked on my lesson plans for the next 15 weeks so my daughter could work independently in case I was really “out of it”. It’s been working OK, but I really miss being a bigger part of her school day.
I have enjoyed learning alongside my daughter as well…esp. the history and the Literature.
Blessings!
(Has your morning sickness kicked in already? When is your EDD?)
I haven’t read through all the comments, so I don’t know if this was suggested yet… I had awful morning sickness my last pregnancy, but discovered that it nearly disappeared when I eliminated processed grains & sugars from my diet. The key for me was increasing my protein intake at every meal & frequent protein rich snacks to keep my blood sugar level nice & steady. I felt like I lived off of hard boiled eggs the first two weeks I switched my diet, but oh it was so worth it! I’ve never felt so good as I did then.
By the way – just discovered your blog last week when you guest posted on kitchen stewardship. Once I clicked over here I couldn’t stop reading!
Good one. I’ve been kind of depressed lately because it seems like wherever I turn, someone is unintentionally insulting the role of SAHM. I may post about it soon. A lot of my friends went off to get graduate degrees and pursue lucrative careers, and here I am–had the first baby right after college graduation and the second one not even 2.5 years later. People my age are having big, fancy, expensive weddings with the money they make at their fancy jobs. I really don’t care about any of that; I like yard sales and thrift shops and coupons and making stuff myself. But it really hurts my feelings when someone thinks I am stupid or that this is all I CAN do. I am smart! I want to do this. I hate that I am shallow enough to let this bother me. Anyway, this post was like a pep talk for me, so thanks!
P.S. I was worried I was the only one looking forward to homeschooling partly to see what *I* can learn! I was terrible in history as a child and I can hardly remember any of the facts I should know, so I am excited to go through it again as an adult.
I agree with every word you said- but I have to say I SO enjoyed beginning a study of the book of Daniel tonight. Uses whole different muscles to dive into God’s word with other women!
Yep, definitely feeling it. I’m due in mid Sept.