Two Years as a Stay At Home Mom... or Whatever It Is I am Doing

It has almost been two years exactly since I was downsized from SuperMedia.  In those years, I have enjoyed precious time with my kids, started my own company, and most recently become somewhat of a community activist.  Overall, I would say I am happier than ever.

What I have not mastered yet is the art of cooking or the desire/motivation to clean on a regular basis.  I cooked from scratch about a week ago and was incredibly proud of myself and then realized how sad it was that it made me proud to cook from scratch probably only one time in the last 2 years.  But I guess it's better than not at all!  Turns out that cleaning is so much harder when you don't work full time!  Who would have thought?  The house is a disaster almost immediately after cleaning.  When I was working, no one was in the house to mess it up.  I never took into consideration how much messier a house gets when it's occupied all the time.

So what am I?  Am I a stay at home mom?  Am I a mom who works from home part-time?  I feel the need to have a job title.  Some moms try be cutesy and say they are a "Domestic Diva" or the family's "CEO/COO", but I don't feel that either of those jobs define me either.  Domestic Diva to me sounds like June Cleaver with Prada shoes... which I am anything but.  Being a "CEO" (Chief Executive Officer) would imply that I am the top dog in charge of the total management of an organization (family).  A "COO" (Chief Operating Officer) implies that why I would be in charge of the operations of the family, but I would still be second in command to the CEO (which I would assume would be my husband in this scenario).  While sometimes this may be the case that I may be more aware of the operations, to-do lists, schedules, events of the household, I am neither "top dog" or "second in command."  My husband and I have an equal partnership.  We make all major, and even many minor, decisions together.  And even though I am with the kids for more time during the day, the quality of time he spends with the kids is just as great. 

Even without an official title or becoming more domesticated, I have accomplished some things that I am proud of.  Six months after I was let go I gave birth to my handsome son, Oliver.  He has brought so much light in our lives.  He truly is the opposite from his sister, Hope, and that keeps us on our toes.  Oliver is so happy, easy going, curious, and energetic.  I am happy that I have been able to spend the time with him to really enjoy his personality and watch him grow each step of the way.  Hope recently turned 4 years old, started preschool, and comes up with new questions everyday to stump me with.  She spoke the other day of Vacation Bible School and I asked her what she was hoping to learn about this year in VBS.  Her response: "Electricity."  She told me she wants to know how daddy's computer can run.  Not sure she'll learn that in VBS, but it impressed me she had even thought about the concept of electricity or even knew the word.

My business with Net Owl Media has been steadily growing.  We are getting more and more business through referrals and family and friends.  I am hoping it continues to grow this year and hopefully double the business we did in 2011.

Through the non-profit organization West Michigan Jobs Group that I am Vice President of, I was able to organize two, going on three, Cash Mobs in the Muskegon County area.  The cash mobs have been helping local businesses through both sales and publicity and has gained recognition through the Muskegon Chronicle, Mlive, and even had an article featured on msnNOW: 'Cash Mobs' flood local businesses with shoppers Makes me happy that it has really taken off the way that it has.  The community has really embraced it and it truly has been helping locally owned shops.

With the fall of the Muskegon Summer Celebration, a new music festival has emerged and I was asked to be on the board of that acting in an advisory position to the management company that will be overseeing the festival.  This has been very exciting to me to see a festival come to fruition nearly from the beginning and building on the strengths of what "Summer Cel" had to offer and improving on some opportunities that the festival had going.

I wouldn't have been able to accomplish all of this if I hadn't been a "stay at home mom."  My friend, Hannah, told me when I first got the news that I had been downsized: "You won't be working, but I know you will always be working." Okay, I may have paraphrased, but that's the gist of what she said.  She couldn't have been more right.

Thanks to the Timeline on Facebook I was able to go look back again at what my status was on March 18, 2010, the day I lost my job:

"I was looking forward to this day because it was the day I was going to hear our new baby's heartbeat for the first time and get to announce to the FB world that I'm pregnant! So I heard the heartbeat, everything's good, and then I get to work and I got let go. Three of us lost our jobs due to "reduction in force." So my great day turned crappy pretty fast. So surprise everyone! I'm pregnant and now unemployed!"

That status brought 48 comments, the last being from my best friend, Andrea:

"I can't wait to meet baby #2 and good luck with your new life :) There is no limit to what you can do. You have always been an inspiration to me. I can't wait to see what wondrous new things will come of all this! Let me know if you need anything. Love you girl!"

Reading that and the other positive comments brought tears to my eyes now when looking back because I realize that these people knew I would do great things in the next couple years that I didn't even know I would do.  I am thankful for the time that I now have to devote to my family, friends, and community to make all of our lives better.  So my "downsize" turned into a huge "upgrade" in the quality of my life.  I couldn't have done any of these things without my enormous support system.  You all make it better.