I've also heard it defined as "the hardest job", "important work", the "best job".
While I would politely nod at friends who outlined the fulfillment of their careers as a SAHM, it's not a role that I ever desired in the faintest. (Which, by the way, doesn't make me love my kiddo or my family any less. It's just I have always found joy in working outside the home.)
However, when my husband was hired for a new position and it meant that we'd no longer have family nearby to help with the care of our little man, I felt that the best way to serve my family would be to take a year (or so) off from my career as a teacher.
Teaching was a role I can comfortably say defined me. Consumed me. Fulfilled me. Teaching was a huge part of me. My classroom was my second home, and I spent countless nights researching how to do better, be better, and give more to my students.
To step away was simply the sacrifice that made sense for my family. But not necessarily for me.
Fast forward a few weeks, and here we are in Cincinnati, Ohio- living life in the Midwest...or the East Coast...or whatever the heck Ohio considers itself (it depends on who you ask). Life here looks different.
We have this little house about half the size of the one we had in Sagle. It is approximately 15 minutes to downtown, a mile walk to various parks, and everything about this place is diverse. We have our pick of culinary cuisine from around the world. The metropolitan area of CINCINNATI is more populated than the entire STATE of Idaho. We've gone from mountains to hills...evergreens to deciduous trees...from a lack of diversity, to being the only white family in the park. From the clean, cold water of Lake Pend Oreille to the dingy, slow, and historic water of the Ohio River. We sit on our back deck and listen to the bells ring from the tower on Sundays and we watch the fireflies flutter across the yard. G catches wind of the neighbors talking on their back deck and runs to give them a high five. We attend cultural food festivals and go to brunch on Saturdays. Ah, I've missed Brunch.
We've traded in a beautiful life for a new kind of lovely. And it's suiting us, in all regards.
Which brings us to my new role as a SAHM. The job I thought I was doing for others, never recognizing how it would help me to grow. Just two weeks in to my "new job" I have learned to lighten up; to laugh; to listen to the same playlist of toddler tunes 3 times a day; to dance like an goober; to let every square inch of the floors be covered in cars; to slow down; to give more kisses; to sympathize; to apologize; to let myself have the second glass of wine after bedtime rituals; to ask for help when I need it; to put ketchup on everything; to snuggle at 7:30, 10, noon, and any other time the job requires it; to get through the diaper change with out tears (woot!); and to love a child more personally than I ever have before.
My bond with G has grown already, and so has my heart. Maybe it really is the best job.
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