My Occupation

No, I did not get a new job. I enjoy mine just fine, thank you. What is my occupation, you may ask? Well, I am a house wife, and a pretty darn good one, if I may say so myself. (I really didn't mean that in a prideful way. I just know that I work hard to keep my marriage and home strong.)

What exactly does a housewife do? Well, for those of you who think that we just sit around watching soap operas and eating bonbons, you are in for a surprise. I don't even get television reception in my home right now. Sure, I have movies, but why would I watch a movie if there are so many other things that need to be done? There are many things we do, but this list is only a few things I can think of off the top of my head: clean the house, cook, mend clothing, keep blog up to date, receptionist work, filing work, weeding, gardening, yard work, rake leaves, shovel snow, decorate, plan/hold parties, be a therapist for our husbands, organize closets/cupboards/drawers/etc, take care of bills, run errands, and so much more!

Now, you may be thinking, "Why is she telling me this?" Well, I have been thinking about this a lot lately. About a month ago, I ran into an acquaintance, and he asked me where I was working. I told him that I was at home. He said that he would never have let his wife stay at home before they had kids. It made me feel like I wasn't doing anything worth while, and I was a little depressed for a few days. Still, to this day, I am frustrated about that conversation, and can't believe he would say that to me. I can understand where he's coming from, wanting more income. But money isn't everything. My point is, please don't judge people for staying home. We're not lazy, like you may think. In fact, I've had some jobs that were tons easier than working hard at home.

Many others of you may be thinking that house work is not the funnest thing to do. Well, sure, there are chores that just plain suck (cleaning the shower, toilets, etc) but there are some great perks to it as well. For one thing, you can go to work in your pajamas! There are some days when I don't even take a shower until three in the afternoon (mind you, these days, I'm doing the dirty, sweaty work like scrubbing floors forever, weeding the garden, etc). If you don't get something done as soon as you'd like, you don't have a boss breathing down your neck demanding it get done or you're fired (I'm sure that is an extreme thought, but at least you don't have to worry about getting fired for any reason). If you're a clean freak, you have time to clean whatever you want to clean. If you're not so much of a clean freak, you can get on to other tasks. You don't have to wake up early to get to work. You can take a day off whenever you like, and don't have to worry about finding someone to fill-in for you. You can do things for others (just today, I babysat two of my nephews, and it was fun!). You can try out new recipes that might take too long for someone working 40 hours a week. You can catch up on scrapbooking that has piled up over the years. You can save money on birthday and Christmas gifts by making some. The perk list is endless!

Well, I hope you have learned that being a house wife is an acceptable occupation. In the past month, as I have been thinking about it, I have learned not to judge people by where they choose to work, just as long as they do something and enjoy it.