5.04.2007

I can't believe it!

I treated myself to a lunch break at my local MegaBookstore!(tm) and while perusing the loverly selection of knitting-related print, I. got. bored. What? Uh, yeah, furreal. I had to leave the store even to get something to eat because nothing, not one single book, compelled me even flip through much less purchase.
I looked at some new things like Runway and Twinkle City, and some of the old Vogue Quick Knits. All I could muster was, "meh." Maybe I'm just saturated. I know my "to knit" list is way longer than my "will knit" list will ever be, but that's never stopped me from dreaming before. It just seems that nothing in the new books is, well, new.
Come on guys, inspire me! Or else I might have to try to design something. And, trust me
NOBODY wants that!

5.03.2007

Mommy Wars Revisited

I'm a working mother. I tried to stay home with my first two kids and was. bored. out. of. my. mind. I couldn't wait to get back to work, to have real conversations, to feel some semblance of sanity. By my third child, I realized three months was the max. I nursed all of my children for a full year each and my sister was able to alternate caring for them with my husband. I chose to work, not because of money, but because I needed more to do in a day than what staying home offered.
MSN today has a report:

I've been a stay-at-home mom. I was raised by a stay-at-home-mom. I've also been to a psychologist (perhaps as a result of my experiences with my own SAHM.) I can tell you, a psychologist, my mom ain't.
I can understand lumping housekeeper, cook, nanny, maybe some other things into the monetary value of mothering. But when you start to sneak in specialized professions like psychology or nursing, who are you really trying to kid? A SAHM can kiss boo-boos or stroke developing egos as well as I can, but until they put in the hard core academics and hours it takes to earn an LPN or PSYD, let's not call a chicken a duck. And let's not inflate the hypothetical salary of someone who chooses to not earn one so she can feel important. Because that's what this is really about isn't it? SAHM's wanting to feel like what they do has value. And, believe me, it does have value. Only its just to you and yours. You cooking and cleaning and raising your own kids, doesn't mean a hill of beans to me. Just as my salary shouldn't matter to you. I don't try to make you value my choice, don't inflate yours to try to sway me.