Life Changes

I hope that this blog post isn't taken the wrong way by anyone. It is not a comment on anyone else's life choices, just a reflection on mine.

It is the September weekend. Today was a holiday and it made me think about previous holidays. Gordon used to work in Greenock and had a different holiday in September. I used to hate this holiday, everybody else used have family days and I was left on my own to entertain 3 children and the weather was usually horrible. The same thing happened in May, but at least the weather was good so we could go to the park.

This led to thoughts of how life has changed. Gordon and I went out for lunch today, with no children. We rarely have anyone else with us now when we go out. My life has changed in a massive way in the last 5 years. I used to be a stay at home mum who also became a childminder because I needed to do some work to increase the household income. But I didn't want to go out to work and leave my children with someone else all day. So I looked after other people's children! I didn't miss the irony in this. I loved being a housewife and looking after my children. But I didn't feel that there was any value in my 'job'. The question most often asked when you meet people for the first time is 'what do you do?' When the answer given is that of housewife or mother, people quickly lose interest. Is it because they think it is a boring thing to do. Or because they can do it and have a 'real' job. Or perhaps because they wish they had the freedom to do it themselves? I don't know. But what I do know is that it is one of the most important jobs around. Bringing up children and influencing their thoughts and attitudes is vital to our world. I don't regret for a minute the decisions that we made as a couple about the way we wanted our family to work. I do wish I had valued myself and the work I did more. But comments like 'I would get bored being at home all day' and 'you are just looking after children' didn't help my self esteem! I enjoyed being a mum, being at home with my children and looking after them.

Now I work in an office. I love my job. It isn't particularly demanding of my brain, but that's OK. I aim to do whatever I am involved in to the best of my ability. And I enjoy being able to go out without trailing children along, to decide to go for a meal and talk to Gordon without constant interruptions to take children to the toilet or having to leave as soon as the meal is finished because they are bored! And to have a rainy September weekend without having to find somewhere to go to entertain them!