Continuing On As a Kept Woman

Today while shedding a few tears over Pitiful Payday, and wondering how it was all going to turn out with my having to be gone from home for 10-11 hours per day, three times a week, to end up with a hundred bucks when all was said and done, the hubby called to say, "I got a job."

A job. For his days off. Working for a fellow firefighter that has a side business installing insulation.

Hooray.

And he'll make more money than I could have.

And he won't mind coming home tired as long as the one he comes home to isn't.

As I have been thinking throughout the week about getting a job, I have realized how spoiled I have been to get to stay home. While I am feeling sorry for myself because
I wouldn't get to take naps,
my back and feet might hurt from having an upright job all day,
knowing I would have to work harder at home for the little time I'd be here,
and that after all the time and effort it wouldn't amount to very much money........
I realized that for just about every other woman in America, that is the reality of their life, with no end in sight.

While I was at the mall for my interview on Wed. I was approached by some guy selling dead sea salt beauty products, and he was showing me their stuff and asking me those salesperson-y kinds of questions. When he found out that I stay at home with my kids he said the politically correct thing: "Oh! Motherhood! That's the hardest job there is."

and it got me thinking.....

Is it?

On the one hand, yes. The blood, sweat, and tears that go along with wearing your heart outside of your body for the rest of your life is difficult, painful, challenging, and rewarding like nothing else.

But, really, is my day-to-day life very hard? Do I work harder than other people that do not stay home with their kids all day?

No. Way.

I set my own hours (well, the school bus does, too, but...), I decide what the acceptable standards are for everything, I can take naps just about any day that I want to, I can read books, I can blog or talk on the phone to a friend or play games with my kids, I can teach my kids at home if I want to, or I can attend their school functions during the day because I've got the time. I can dress up or dress down, wear makeup or not, eat when I want to, or start up an exercise plan (not that I would!).

So, I'm a kept woman, and a kept woman I shall stay, for at least a few more weeks or months. I will try to work at least a third as hard as I would have while running around the clothing store straightening stuff and serving strangers, and will try to appreciate my down time more. I will get gussied up in what I would have worn to work, and wear makeup and do my hair perfectly, just for my husband who will be the only adult person seeing me most days.

Being a kept woman is a pretty good deal; don't you agree?