Climbing My Everest

I am " just" a stay at home mom.

I don't wake up and put on a business suit every morning. I don't stop by Starbucks on my way into the office and prepare for Monday morning meetings. I don't meet with coworkers and discuss the latest business plan. I don't get to rub elbows with C.E.O.'s and I certainly don't get to smile with pride when my boss tells me my hardwork has been recognized and I will be seeing a nice raise on the following paycheck.

I don't collect a paycheck, get weekends off or even call in sick when the stomach bug hits.

I am " just" a stay at home mom.

Most morning I am in my pajama's until close to noon because both kids need me and I often find myself in a ponytail and yoga pants. And what would have been a stop at Starbucks turns into a run through McDonald's for a dollar cup of coffee. My meetings consist of parks and playgrounds with other mama's and their kids. I don't get raises, weekends off, or sick days.

I am " just" a stay at home mom.

I've been called things from lazy, to spoiled, to over privledged because I am " just" a stay at home mom.

But it is a life I have been blessed with, a life I love and I would never choose anything else than to be a stay at home mother to my two sweet blessings who were a product of so much waiting and so much prayer.

And as much as I love my children and adore the life I have been blessed with some days are hard...really hard...and if I ever complain about it I am viewed as ungrateful and all to often I hear the comment " I wish I could stay at home with my kids. It'd be so easy"

Well guess what rather you work or stay at home being a mom is anything but easy.

Sure it rewarding in the most indescribable of ways but its also work. A lot of it. It changing over 10 diapers a day, dealing with spit up and throw up and wondering what that rash all over your baby's tummy is. Its lots of holding and playing and a non stop day when someone ask you what you did today you somehow reply "nothing" yet you are completely and utterly exhausted because even though you did " nothing" you were busy all day!

I recently read this article and loved her comparison of parenthood to climbing Mount Everest.

"I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up."

And I realize on the not so bright and sunny days that come along with parenting two very small children I too am climbing my own Everest.

Being a stay at home mother to two babies that are under 2 years apart is exactly what my heart always wanted. It literally is my every dream come true. There are intense grueling moments but I know that there is magic in climb and at the top is thee most spectacular view and sense of accomplishment one could ever feel.