If someone were to ask me what I do for work, my first instinct would be to say that I'm a stay-at-home mom, which is strange because I also work outside the home. I teach English at a community college part time {which sometimes feels like I work full-time because...grading. And planning. And more grading.}
I'm an adjunct, which means my course load and schedule change each semester and I'm never guaranteed a class at all. In some ways I think this makes me feel like I don't have a steady job. Even though, thankfully, it has been pretty steady for the past 3 years.
I find myself in this weird place career-wise. I really connect with other SAHMs {see, I even use the acronym}, but I also feel some of the stresses that full-time working moms do {though definitely not all of them}. Not to brag, but I think it's kind of the greatest gig ever. Most days I get to be home with the boys, but I still get to work and use my degrees and non-mom brain for a bit each week. I get to tell my husband stories about the crazy things my kids do during the work day, but I also get to vent to him about work and some of the ridiculous things my students write {"Professors are teaching classes that we pay for, so they basically work for us and should do what we say." Yep, that really happened}. This opportunity to complain to each other has in a weird way been wonderful for our marriage since he's a teacher, too. I think it helps us understand each other's work and bond over some of the frustrations that come with that role.
Aside from teaching, I also do some freelance writing and editing, which over the past couple of months has increased significantly. On top of that, my little invitation design business, Patterns Press, has been getting lots of new clients, which has been so fun and encouraging. I've learned so much and my brides have given me new challenges and trusted me to help create their perfect wedding, which I'm really proud of.
All of this extra work has to get done at home and I'm so thankful that Jason has the summer off to pick up the slack, of which there is quite a bit. I'm not used to my work time outweighing my mom time, so this summer has been a little crazy. I'm so thankful, but my head is still spinning from it all. The nature of all my "jobs" is that they will not always be this demanding. In fact, my only consistent and steady job is that of mother. I will always be in high demand at home.
So, what do I do for work? I'm a stay-at-home mom, who for the time being also works a lot.
All this to say that I always intend to write so much more here because I love to write about these fleeting days when our family is young and somehow encapsulate the memories in blog-form. But I just haven't had the time. So I'm encapsulating instead these feelings of overwhelm and gratefulness for the chance to grow professionally, because that's my life at the moment. And these days could be fleeting, too.
