Home Maker

At the beginning of the new school year I had to fill out a lot of forms to get the kids enrolled in their new schools. We moved (again) recently and as I have been trying to get settled (again) I keep thinking about something I filled out on all those forms. There is a spot where you are required to fill in your profession…

As I filled out those forms with the word “homemaker” I was struck with the meaning of those words and I haven’t been able to get them out of my head in the months that have followed. I am a home maker. I make this home. Whatever I want it to be, that is what I make of it.

I thought of the book by Jane Clayson Johnson titled “I am a mother.” It is one of my VERY favorite books and I find her so inspiring (you should read it and reread it and give it away as gifts!!). One of the stories she tells is about being at a dinner party shortly after she had become a mother. Everyone was introducing themselves and time after time as the women stood up to introduce themselves they made excuses or seemed embarrassed and said things similar to “I don’t have a real job, I’m just a mother.” Jane talks about how she was so proud and happy to be a mother that she wanted to stand up and shout “I AM a mother”. She was previously a co-host on the CBS Early show (among many other things) but being a mother is her greatest accomplishment. It is an incredibly powerful book and her message has really stuck with me.

I am a mother and I am a homemaker.

As I have been setting up house in this new place I have been thinking about this responsibility and this “job” of mine. It is such an encompassing responsibility. It is so much more than just cleaning the house (though cleaning the house is a HUGE part of it). The furniture is where I put it and the pictures on the walls are where I hung them. 

My home is literally what I make it.

I am the example that they follow. I am the one they look to when they are scared and sad. The food I make is the stuff that helps their little bodies to grow. The songs I sing help them fall asleep at night and the words they hear echoing through their little ears as they go to school or drift off to sleep are going to be mine…

No pressure… no big deal…

We have a picture frame I bought before I had kids. I am sure I was thinking of my own mom when I bought it but now it has a picture of me and Lila in it. The words say “Our house is warm inside, because you've made it so. Everything says love to me, no matter where I go.”

I want that warmth in my home. That is the kind of home I want to make.

Zack just came in and said “Mommy, I need you…” There is no sweeter sound to me, no “job” I’d rather have than this.
  
Guess I better get back to “work!”