I am a Mom AND...

Anyone who read last week's blog knows that I have been having a bit of an identity crisis.
Good news: I am hiding behind Smurf analogies no more!

I read a good book this week: Mama's Got a Fake I.D.: How to Reveal the Real You Behind All That Mom.   The author, Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira,   helped me to figure out what to tell people when they ask what I do.

So, here it is:  I raise children, goats, and cattle.
 
Ms. Rivadeneira encourages us moms, whether we are stay at home moms or working moms, to express what we do in terms of "I am a mom and _______."  Thus we can proudly claim our identities as mothers without losing our identity as people with hopes, dreams, talents, and work in addition to what we do as mothers.  Of course, if we don't want to have a marathon sort of answer we will never be able to capture all the work we do or all the roles we play in one answer.  But, here, finally, is a way I can answer that dreaded question without either saying something that sounds like I made up a title just to sound important (someone suggested I call myself Livestock Manager, but that felt phony to me), or copping out and saying "just a mom".  I am absolutely not diminishing the work of a mother.  Being a mom is astoundingly difficult and amazingly, awesomely, abundantly important.  The thing is that many, many, many of us have other things we do at the same time from volunteering, to selling various products, to part time jobs, to full time jobs.  All of those callings are important.  So, let's lay claim to the fact that we are multi-dimensional creatures.

For now, I am a mom and I raise goats and cattle.  Maybe the blog thing will take off and I will be a mom and a blogger (not that I will abandon my cattle but as mentioned before one can only say so much).  Maybe my writing will take off and I will be a mom and a writer.  Being a mom will always be a huge part of who I am, just not the only part.

By the way, the next person who implies that I have been sitting around eating bonbons and watching soap operas might want to do so from a distance or while handing me a box of aforementioned bonbons.  Mama's got some pent up emotions but chocolate has amazing calming effects.  

I Just Want to be a Smurf

Well, I sent my youngest off to Kindergarten today.   I didn't even cry but that was mostly because I was too sleepy.  I'm not used to getting up that early!

Now comes the identity crisis.  Can you call yourself a stay at home mom when no kids are staying at home with you?  What do I say when someone asks what I do?

It all makes me a little jealous of the Smurfs.  Yep, the cartoon with little blue people in it.  They are all named for who they are.  Where is your identity crisis when your name is Farmer Smurf?  But my problem is sometimes I am Farmer Smurf and other times Baker Smurf  or Mamma Smurf or Preacher Smurf.  My family can attest to the fact that I am definitely sometimes Grumpy Smurf.  I guess I have multiple Smurfinalities.  (If I don't quit with all this Smurf talk some of you are going to label me as Not Quite Right In The Head Smurf.)
 
But, I guess I am happy that I have so many aspects to my life.  I certainly wouldn't want to give up any of those roles.  It just makes it hard to answer the question, "What do you do?" Some days I guess I will answer that I have multiple Smurfinalities and some days I may let everyone know that I am Grumpy Smurf.  It may be better not to ask.

Now that school has started I think I will be acting as Blogger Smurf more often and hopefully I will have another Blogger Smurf joining me.  We have lots of fun ideas, so stay tuned!

Have a Smurfy Day!