My REAL Job

Yep, here they are. In case you couldn't guess!



I'll never forget it. I had never been asked the question in so polite a manner before. At the time it didn't carry a lot of weight with me since I was a month or two away from Jameson's arrival & had not yet officially entered mommy-dom, but now, 4 years later, boy does it resonate.

Full of courtesy and respect, in the lobby of the Sewell Lexus dealership, my brother's sales manager said, "Hi Julie. It's so nice to meet you. Tell me, do you work inside or outside of the home?"

Looking back now, obviously this man was no dummy. He either had his own kids, or had been well instructed by his wife in the ways of asking this delicate question (possibly part of the Sewell training manual?). I'm gonna go ahead and call him a genius!

Even though I can only claim 4 years being mommy, I can say that all four have been work. Nights interrupted every 1-2 hours with a newborn, not being able to wear nice clothes because you get spit up on every half hour, sweat stains down the back of your shirt while lugging a 50 pound stroller in and out of your SUV on sweltering hot Texas summer days, scraping raisins off your kitchen floor with a knife under the high chair, strategically squirting Tylenol in between tightly clenched little lips to bring a fever down, and even coming into your den after a bit too much silence to find your leather ottoman completely drenched in spray shower cleaner. They're all just awesome. And they're all work.

But then there's also little unsolicited gestures like being told you look pretty in your stretched out pj pants and tank top, getting wide-open-mouth baby kisses, hearing "Mommy, you are SILLY!" bunches of times, receiving a ceramic Dalmatian dog trio in a equally beautiful painted basket from Hallmark because your 3 year old said that is what you would like for Christmas, getting your glasses about smooshed into your eyeballs after being hug-tackled while watching tv on the floor, or possibly hearing your little boy telling you, "Mommy, ask God. When you don't know what to do, you ask God" and realizing that something is actually sinking into that little mind.

So here's too all the mommies out there, deserving of much reward and recognition for all of their unnoticed efforts! And especially thank you to my mom, who taught me most about being a mommy.