My Half-Done Dress
I just read a great article in the latest issue of The Homeschool Mome eNewsletter. The article was by Amy Hollingsworth and was titled, “When Being a Mom Isn’t Enough.”
It touched on exactly what I’ve been feeling lately. Sure, I still enjoy being a SAHM and homeschooling the kids. But… at the end of the day everything I’ve done is undone and I have nothing to show for it.
Amy talks about her mother who confided in her this tip. At the end of the day after all the kids were in bed, Amy’s mom would go down to the basement and sew on a dress for the remaining hours of the day. She would then take the half-sewn dress and hang it on her bedroom door so that she would see it first thing in the morning. She’d have physical proof that not everything she’d done the day before was undone.
I need do decide what my half-done dress is. Problem is I have so many things to choose from. LOL! And I don’t always have hours “left over” at the end of the day. I really need to be in bed by 10:30pm. Some days it is a sprint to get there by then.
Here’s a copy of the article at Home Ed Mag. Enjoy!
March 4th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Now I could say “no everything is not undone”, but it wouldn’t help your feelings. So I will say …
You are building a skyscraper, mostly by yourself. One wall is highly intelligent, compassionate children. Another is a welcoming home with warm hearth, and a warm husband. There are interior walls of the small projects that after the next floor is laid can’t e seen and are forgotten, except by the residents of that floor.
Every day you spread mortar and lay bricks around the whole circumference. Then you go inside and work on the walls and floors. At the end of the day, this new layer is barely disernable from yesterday’s work and you lament.
But if you look back at the photos of one year, two years, and more, you can see the stark contrast of an empty lot, or just the foundation to the mini-skyscraper you have today.
You still have a lot of work to do, but you are not just on a treadmill; walking to only see the same view.
hugs
Wilhelm vF
BTW - if Bob has not reminded you that you’re smart and good-looking, let me do so in his stead.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Thank you Wilhelm for your kind words and analogy. You are right and also there is also the need for something that is just me. I am awfully proud to be a mother but it is not all that I am.
I am also proud to have a husband that is extremely supportive, kind, caring and well… just darned wonderful. Even though I say “I” alot in the SAHM/homeschooling comments, it is really a “We.” Each role being different and vital.
I’d type more but my DD is reminding me we really must go.