My youngest daughter just turned three over the weekend. One of her requests was a pink polka dot cake. She has a serious obsession with the color pink, and has recently decided polka dots are also cool! In my super mom fashion I set out to find a way to give her the coolest pink and polka dot cake! I know I’m not just a mom, but it does have it’s fun ties to it.

While working on her cake, I got an email to submit my bio for this blog. It got me thinking. What am I supposed to say about me? How would I describe myself without sounding overly obnoxious? It also made me recall my struggles in finding my value as a stay-at-home mom in my early years of parenthood. I used to feel like I wasn’t valuable because all I did was sit at home all day eating bon bons and watching soap operas all day! Not really, but you get the sarcasm right?

I recalled a time when I made a diaper cake (a cake-like tower made with rolled up diapers and decorated with toys) for a friend who was expecting a baby. Another friend saw it and looked at me incredulously, and expressed that she just couldn’t believe I knew how to be so creative. Sadly this friend is also a mother and Christian and knows the importance of the role of a stay-at-home mom. The comment cut deeply because this person had never really been supportive nor valued my place as a stay-at-home mom. It seemed to be more of a shocked comment rather than a compliment.

So there I stood feeling rather dejected instead of complimented. I had yet again been made to feel devalued as a stay-at-home mom. Obviously the only thing us moms know how to do is cook, clean, change dirty diapers, and wipe noses right? Wrong! I have since challenged myself to come up with ten things that I know about myself that have nothing to do with motherhood and indicate I’m not just a mom.

Not Just a Mom, Also a…

1. I am a child of God, not just a mom. I had a mom that made sure I went to church growing up. She struggled in her own role as a mom, never having other supportive Christian women around to challenge her. But she made sure I learned who I was in Christ.

2. I’m a runner. I don’t do it extremely well. But it helps me to stay relaxed and also the health benefits outweigh those of a non runner.

3. I am creative. I have noticed that once I get focused on a specific task that all kinds of ideas come out of me. I usually end up with more material for a project than I will ever use. This actually happens in my classes I teach at home and co-op.

4. I’m a teacher. While I don’t have anything more than a packet of test scores from my last job, I do have lots of experience. I’ve recently been teaching Junior Achievement at my old school in my old classroom. It’s so tempting to go back to work full time because I’m just so comfortable in a classroom.

5. I’m a writer. I loved writing short stories and poetry when I was a teenager. It helped with all that teen angst we tend to go thru. I quit writing when I had kids because I just didn’t feel like I had time. Now that I’ve returned to it, I’m finding that my words and creativity are flowing again.

6. I’m funny! Okay so growing up I was told I had a dry sense of humor. But over the years I’ve realized that my whole family is a bunch of jokesters. Myself included. Today my sons therapist said, “you have a great sense of humor!” Good thing she didn’t know me when I was a kid?

7. I love to sing. I’m not sure of I do it well or not. I’m not really sure I want to know. But I do enjoy praising our God who created us with music.

8. I’m an awesome cook! I love to make up my own recipes and learn more about food. We’ve gained some weight over the years because I feed my family well!

9. I’m a great friend. Growing up I didn’t have many friends. I’m sometimes shocked at all the friends I’ve made in my adult life and on Facebook. Who knew the girl who barely had any friends in school would have over 300 friends on Facebook? And honestly I don’t think I’d delete many of them.

10. I’m a wife. And also a mom. I know I said I wasn’t going to write about it. But I’ve finally come to the point in my life where I really understand that my highest calling in life is to be a wife and mom. I wouldn’t have such great stuff to write about if I wasn’t a mom. I wouldn’t have my kids without my hubby. I wouldn’t have all those obnoxious pictures to post on Facebook for the whole world to see. I wouldn’t have as much reason to run. Parenting is hard work! and we all need a positive way to de-stress. I wouldn’t have met so many wonderful friends. Many of whom were my kids’ teachers when they were in traditional school. I wouldn’t have as much cooking to do. I wouldn’t have so much laughter in my life.

And I probably wouldn’t be baking a pink polka dot birthday cake at eleven at night!

What things make you not just a mom?

Category: Moms

Tags: 3rd birthday