Sunday, October 19, 2008

-reality check

today was one of those weird, self evaluating days. as I was sitting at church with my ultra hip and super fresh friends, tiff and julianne, i became suddenly aware of the large number of new faces sitting amongst us. one hot new young couple tickling each other's backs, another speaking from the pulpit and a suuuper young blonde giving the closing prayer.


not sounding weird yet? well, it became odd when i realized that the part that bothered me wasn't that i didn't know who they were but.... they all knew each other. this new crop of cute newlyweds in church were probably getting together for couples' dates like late night movies and dinners. doing things married people do before children. fun right? i loved those days however, i'm not writing this because i'm wanting to go back or even be invited to the get togethers. (btw- i'm kinda a grandpa these days. supper at 5:30pm and in bed by 8. you have to call it supper when it's that early. oh, and i like to complain about the weather too). what was i saying?


oh yes. the main problem. here we go. i realized i'm one of those older chicks in the ward with kids that the newbies probably don't care to get to know. i remember being in that position. it was hard talking to mothers about my job because i didn't even know if they'd ever had a job. and i certainly didn't know what to ask a mom about her life with the kids. being a stay at home mom seemed sooo foreign to me and highly undesirable back then. it really was one of those "i wish i knew back then what i know now" moments.


i love being home with brooks and ade but besides that, i'm a freaking interesting person. right? i know most of my current conversations include stories about sleeping schedules, teething, easy recipes or new crafting projects but............. oh crap, nevermind. i was a freaking interesting person. :)


i guess it's time i drop my perceived stereotypes of other moms. being a mom is a lot more of an identity overcoat than i realized. and here i am once again realizing how much more of a real personmy own mom is. this post is going on and on and my brain has been sucked out by my nursing baby, so hopefully it's making some sense. has anyone else had one of these reality checks besides me? please share..

9 comments:

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

I just recently realized the same thing - but I really don't think I had as interesting of a life as you did b.c.

McCain Family said...

I used to think I was really interesting as well back in the day, and I'm sure a lot of people thought the same thing about me(interesting in a weird way, but fun. right, everyone?)
Okay, so anyway, the older I got the more chill I got, and boring. I now would rather stay home and bake banana bread while watching Hayden laugh at her Baby Einstein video, then go out on the town. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I'm a mom. It still freaks me out because I don't really feel like it sometimes. But even though I may not be as interesting to adults as I once was, I know I'm really interesting to my baby. I can entertain the crap out of her!
And I also am realizing that my mom is more than just "mom", but that IS one of her best qualities because she does it so well. I hope I can have that effect on my kids.
So yes, I have had a reality check once or twice in the last little while and sometimes it scares me to death, but most times I realize how lucky I am to be a "boring" stay at home mom.
So to those hot, young newlyweds: Your time will come. And you are missing out on some of the best conversations about poop you will ever have. Give us moms a chance, you won't regret it!:) And you might learn something along the way...

McCain Family said...

wow. that was really long....sorry!

ArizonaLewis said...

I guess we're all in the same boat. I wish everyday that we all lived closer. I love my sisters! ....and poop conversations too.

Wagars said...

I was never that interesting of a person before I had kids. I mean, how interesting can you be when you are 17 ; - )

Plus, my best friend was this wild and crazy gal who was always the center of attention...which I loved, because again, I was not that interesting of a person.

But some day you will be an old mom of a 13 year old like me and instead of comparing yourself to the hot newlyweds, you will compare yourself to the other frumpy moms and you will feel so much better about how hot you are! I'm not talking Tri-Cities hot, I'm talking Arizona hot!!

Tiff G. said...

Ahh, yes, that was a surreal moment! 2 kids with one on the way and now I'm faced with the evil scenario of to mini-van or not to mini-van. I'm holdin on to the one mantra I had before I had kids, "I will not be a mini-van mom" so stick it newly wed couples. I am a cool mom?

teamBoo said...

So if YOU are not interesting what does that make the rest of us?? Screwed..thats what it makes us.

Just because those newly married girls don't have spit up on their shirts doesn't mean they're so exciting (sitting there with their stupid overly back combed hairdos)

I prefer a friend with substance and a little worn tread. And if that means she can throw down a good pooh story at the drop of a hat, well....so be it.

ArizonaLewis said...

well said "the dike". well said. and really, what is with all the back combing. last time i got my hair done, it was teased without my permission. i didn't quite know what to do with all that sexyness.

Lucrecia said...

I kind of feel sorry for those youngens! They look all love stoned. They don't even know what life is about yet. My favorite thing though is when one of these cute newlyweds see's me with my baby and says "he's so cute. Is he your first?" And I get to say "No, he's #5." I just love the shock:)