Today's Show and Tell

This afternoon I am going to attemp to bring a large lap cat to my son's school for 'Show and Tell'. This sounds like a great idea to my 6 year old, but sounds like a lot of work for mom. He is large, meows louder than an ambulance siren, sheds excessively and has a disgusting backside that is only partially concealed by his tail. Due to his large size he is not able to cleanse himself as well as he (and I) would like. This means that I have to find a box large enought to contain his enormous body, comb out his fur, and try and find a way to make his backside look presentable for a room full of 6 year olds who will surely comment if he is less than fastidiously clean. I am not looking forward to it at all, but anything to make a 6 year old happy.

I am trying to remind myself that this is why I am not working. This is why I work at things that leave my schedule flexible enough to take the afternoon to cart around an enormous white cat to my children's school. It's what my mom would never have done for me. So I make it a point to do it for my kids. I complain about my boredom, running back and forth to school will forgotten homework, lunches, and permission slips, and the kinks it puts on my ability to get stuff done at home, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Although I love the fact that I once had a 'career'. I genuinly think that if a woman wants to have kids she should stay home with them and be there for them the way a mother should be. I strongly believe that you can't really know your child unless you are there when he goes to school in the morning and you are there in the afternoon when he gets home. You have to be able to take time off when they are sick, and not make them feel guilty about it if you work and have to take time off to stay home with them. Kids need a parent who is there for them 24/7. Someone who has the ability to drop anything if they are needed.

I struggled with this enormously those first 3 years when my oldest was young and I worked in an office. I worked in a predominately male field and it was always looked down on by my bosses when I had to take time off when my son was sick, had a doctor's appt, etc. It made me feel horrible. Maybe I just needed a more understanding employer, but to me having children pulled me in too many directions, and they won hands down.