Behind the Scenes

Ok - so I listened to my 3 (soon to be 4) year old and 2 year old talk about gorillas, green dragons, red dragons and elephants - made my baby laugh - got everyone breakfast - got everyone dressed - packed my middle schooler's lunch and got her off to school - coordinated a birthday party invitation - noted soccer and cross country practice changes - did some banking - made some appointments at the pediatrician's office - cleaned the TV room - made the beds - cleaned the kitchen - did some laundry - cleaned the boys' room - organized some photos on the computer - gave the baby a snack - got the baby down for a nap ..... more - all before 11 am, but.... I missed a luncheon for moms (just couldn't get my potluck contribution together while facing a few hours wrangling 3 kids 3 & under) - did not get myself fed or dressed (OK - I managed some coffee) - and definitely did not even approach the piles of photos, dress up costumes and games littering the floor of the baby's nursery. They've been sitting there for weeks.

You see - what I do - like all stay-at-home moms is behind the scenes work. A far cry from the theater, dance and fashion show work I did in past professional lives, but... just as - if not more - valuable. It gets hard sometimes, though - this operating in a vacuum (I think we've all experienced that feeling that hours have gone by and we haven't spoken to or seen another adult or ventured into the outside world at all except for an occasional email or solitary walk down the street with little ones in tow before lunch). Of course, as parents, we all feel so lucky to have our babies - our grade schoolers. We are grateful for our spouses and the work he or she does to make our at-home world possible, but... it does get hard - particularly because the "work" we do is often invisible (the milk mysteriously puts itself away - the magic elves make the beds, right?).

Anyway, I think a forum for trading ideas on vital issues for parents like vaccinations, illnesses to watch for, how to evaluate schools, organic stuff - to buy or not to buy, etc. is important, and.... a forum for chatting about frivolous things like fashion (both for hip moms and cute kids), fun "baby-industry" trends, the new "become a chef" (or at least a great home cook) trend, exercise (what's boring - what works, etc.) is highly relevant and necessary (for sanity, and to keep that "stay at home mom accreditation" :) current).

So - this is my forum. I hope people will see fit to read, share, comment - whatever.