When I Grow Up

When I was young, if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never would have said a mom. When I was in elementary school I would have said, "a ballerina" or "a piano teacher." As I got older, I would have said one of many different things, depending on the day. A school teacher, a journalist, a news anchor, a lawyer, and so on.

Eventually, I graduated high school and decided to go to BYU-Idaho and major in Theatre and Speech Education with a minor in Music. The music only lasted a few semesters, then was changed to English. I loved school! I did pretty well, had a good job, and hung out with lots of different people. I was doing what I loved.

After a couple of semesters, I met Michael. That story is for a different time, but needless to say, we got married. I started going to school year round and finished quickly. During my last semester on campus, I got pregnant with our daughter. The Monday after I finished a teaching assignment in St. Anthony, ID, my water broke. Little did I realize how much my life was going to change. In a matter of hours, I went from being a busy, school focused, running everywhere woman, to a stay-at-home mom. It was the hardest, best change of my life!

If you know me very well, you know I like to be involved in different things. I am what you might call a social butterfly. Suddenly being home all the time with a little baby was really hard for me. It still is sometimes. There are days when I just want to leave, to get a job, to go back to school, to just do something besides change diapers and do dishes. But at the end of the day, when my kids are asleep, I love to look in at them (very quietly, of course, so I don't wake the little screamers). Its in those moments that I realize, being a mother is so much more rewarding than being a ballerina or a journalist. Although there is nothing wrong with any of those professions, I know that "Mom" is the title I'm supposed to have right now.

One day I hope to go back to school and get a Master's Degree. I hope to have a profession where I'm learning and interacting with other people all the time. But for now, I'm going to be a mom, and I'm going to love it!