Domestic Executive

Last night we had some young men over for dinner. They're around twenty years old and my husband asked what their plans for life are. One was unsure and seemed distressed that he didn't know yet what he wanted to do "when he grew up." I said that I still didn't know what I wanted to do.

Both immediately responded with, "Stay at home mom." Then repeated other titles for the same idea: homemaker, domestic executive. My only response to them is that someday my children will be in school and I will have more time on my hands.

The majority of the time I really am at peace with being a stay at home mom. When I see other women having to leave their babies to go back to work, I'm incredibly grateful that I get to stay with mine (even if I desperately need a break from them, I only want a break of a couple of hours). But it surprised me and even made me a little sad that these young men thought that stay at home mom was not only my current status, but would be forever. It made me wonder what their mothers did, or what they thought their mothers would do, when all their children were grown and gone.

In five years my baby will be in school. I don't plan on immediately (or even ever) working full time. I know raising them won't be over, and a mother's job isn't even over when her children have left the home. I'm excited to be involved in their schooling. I want to volunteer in their classrooms and go on field trips with them. They'll still need mothering and raising for many years to come. But in a few short years, they will need significantly less of my time than they do now. And I hope that my house will be cleaner and I'll get to read more books, but eventually I'll want to do something more.

So no, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Right now I'm a stay at home mom. But like many people, my career both in the home and out will evolve and change with time.