Sunday, May 22, 2016

Trading Shoes

            Hello bloggers, it’s been awhile! I mean, like a long while. So much has happened since my last entry. It’s safe to say that life ran away with me but I cut myself loose and now I’m back! I usually don’t write an entry unless there’s a topic I feel compelled to share. The topic today is about ‘Marriage’.
            As someone who married a little later in life, than the rest of my childhood friends; I can say there’s a reason I put it off. I used to have this 1950’s mentality image in my head of a wife raising the kids alone, cleaning the house, baking something for the PTA, slaving over her husbands every whim while the husband would work all day, come home disconnected, plop his pot bellied self in a chair and watched television.  This image HORRIFIED me.  The last thing I wanted was to feel alone while raising my children, to be the eternal maid, and to always be the ONLY one who prepared meals.  It just seemed like a trap. This was honestly an image I could not get rid of. I am glad to report this did not happen! I find myself pretty lucky to be married to such a wonderful man, who proves to me every day just how amazing he is.
            And it turns out that I LOVE being the stay-at-home-mom, to be there for my kids and to be the one who knows the most about them. I shower them with kisses and we have all day to spend together. But for everything there is a season.                  
            Recent events have caused our roles to reverse. Now I’m the one who goes to work and he stays at home with the kids. My little world has flipped around and now I’m trying to get a handle on being the bread winner. I’m not close to anyone who is going through a similar experience so it’s harder to process. I’ve gotten used to my mommy role and now I have to be the dad.  At first I had my reservations, but after my first real week at work, I can tell you I’m no longer concerned.
            It’s been an interesting ride, to go from proud stay-at-home-mom, to bread winner. I miss my kids and find myself smothering them with kisses when I get home. I have less energy and can barely keep my eyes open passed 8 o’clock. I want to hold my baby every chance I have, and I am only able to do one household chore a day, before running out of steam. The funniest thing is I hear my words come out of my husbands’ mouth. Little things here and there and it bring a smile to my face.  
            Another thing that I found is in many ways my husband makes a better mom than I do. Whenever I mention this he insists that it isn’t true, but that we have different strengths. For instance, I have been unsuccessfully trying to potty train my two-year-old, yet a few weeks with dad and suddenly she can sit on her potty and almost consistently go without too much bribery. My son has learned to crawl, and my daughter can count to ten AND is learning her ABC’s!
            This reverse in roles has helped our family in more ways than if we had kept things the same. I am so humbled and grateful to my husband who continues to teach me the meaning of a team. Every day that passes I’m so glad I married him. In a few days it’ll be our four year anniversary, and what a better way to understand someone than to walk in their shoes.