Parenthood...and housewives.

I think when your child turns 3, you finally become a parent. It sounds silly doesn't it? When your child is an infant you are their 'care-taker,' but you really aren't their parent. When your child is old enough to argue about choice of sock color, oreos vs. pancakes for breakfast, why somersaults next to the fireplace sound like a good idea, or why they feel the need to make you carry their 35 lb body around Wal-Mart, that is the point when I believe you become a parent. At that very point in time, when you are standing in the kitchen arguing with some one less than a quarter your age and half your size, is the point when the term 'parent' can effectively be used to describe yourself. When you feel yourself about ready to pull your hair out, because 'pink socks don't go with black cowboy boots,' or when your head is going to explode, because you've broken up your 5th fight over cheez-its during the day...pat yourself on the back. Congratulations, you've made it to 'parenthood.'

Completely separate topic...Derrick told me today that i'm a great mother, wife, sister, daughter, etc...but i'm not a great 'housewife.' Duh. I'm not great at cleaning. I'm not even going to sit here and say i'm good at it. I do it to get it done. I hate it and I think playing with my kids is much more important. That being said, I looked up 'housewife' in wikipedia (I know you all think i'm crazy) just to see what kind of insight it offered... I pulled a fun paragraph out, to defend my point-of-view.

''Similarly, there is considerable variation in the stay-at-home mom's attitude towards domestic work not related to caring for children. Some may embrace a traditional role of housewife, cooking and cleaning in addition to caring for children. Others see their primary role as that of child-care providers, supporting their children's physical, intellectual, and emotional development while sharing or outsourcing other aspects of home care.''

So, what wikipedia is trying to tell me is that I am not the only stay at home mother who doesn't like to clean. Thank you again wikipedia. All i'm saying is that I can pick up teddy grahams until the cows come home, but eventually they find their way back into the living room and on the couch, and in the clothes hamper, and in bed, and in the underwear drawer, and in the linen closet, and even on top of the t.v. Teddy grahams just have a funny way of knowing where they aren't supposed to go. I think if I didn't have children, my house would be spotless or at least it wouldn't have a dusting of cinnamon sugar everywhere you turn. Again, this is the price you pay for those little giggles and silly dance parties.