Let Me Explain

Ok, so I had this idea for a book.  A book about the struggles of a 21 century, feminist-ish woman dealing with life as a stay-at-home mom.  Yeah, so that woman is me.  And while someday, I may compile a book of episodes, for now we get a blog.

Don't get me wrong, I love, adore, treasure my children and my husband and I strongly belief that as a woman of God I should be at home with my children especially while they are young.  And while I never doubt any of the above mentioned, I do still have struggles one a day-to-day basis (and have had since day one of stay-home-mommy-ship).  

Ok, so I don't really qualify myself as a true feminist, mostly because I do believe that women should take pride and honor in raising their families.  However, I did grow up in a feminist culture.  Every woman in my family for a few generations have been "working women" (as if there is such a thing as a non-working woman, any and every woman has plenty of work to do).  My parents, like so many of my friends' parents, divorced when I was making the transition from junior high to high school.  And that event shed new light on why women should have an education.  I never really pictured myself as the stay-at–home type.  I think I just never thought about that.  I knew I wanted to get married someday, but children was such a far off thought...  I was dedicated to my studies in college and had plenty of big plans for my future career.  That is, until I met Geoff.

I don't want that to come across as a bad thing.  It undeniably isn't.  Geoff became my heart's beat and soon I was thinking of my future married life and what that would bring.  We talked about having children: how many, how soon, and of course,  how I would stay at home with them.  Without a conscious switch of gears, I was now a pre-stay–at-homer.  

So, here I am 8 1/2 years after that conversation with my then fiance, the mother of 4 children all born within a four year span.  I have attempted to work both from home and in the real world a few times since the birth of my oldest, but it just hasn't worked and really it just hasn't been right for us.  I am working on my Bachelor's and hope to have my Master's in Secondary Education before we move back to the States in 2012 and I may or may not join the 'work force' then.  Until such a time arises, I am a stay-at-homer thru and thru. 

Thus we see that a girl raised with feminist ideals and values (while not pronounced as feminist, some things just are) can in fact become a traditional, old-fashioned housewife.