Paradigm shift

I was chatting with a friend recently and saying that I have so much respect now for stay-at-home moms because there really is a lot that goes into household management, and it doesn't really end at 5 pm like a professional job does (rather, 5 pm is just the start of the second shift - when the kids/husband come home!) but continues on through the night. There is always something more to do. I was talking about how "they" [stay-at-home moms] do it and was just going on and on about "them". At which point, my friend interrupted me and said, "You know, you are one right now." Which totally caught me off guard. I paused. I was thinking. Hm. I've been home since mid-December 2008 when I had to go on leave with my pregnancy. Haven't worked since (the one week in between maternity leave and being laid off doesn't count). Hm. I have been at home this whole time.

I suppose....that makes me....a stay-at-home mom...???

Wow. A total paradigm shift. I really wasn't expecting that one. You would think, after more than a year of this (hello 2010!), I would get it. Hey - I live it every day! And yet, I did not identify with that label. Never did I think that label would apply to me. Wow. This made me stop and think. Granted, I am looking for a job so being at home 24/7 should be temporary, but still, by now you would think I would get it. I even did a Mommy and Me session last summer!

Funny how an ingrained paradigm would be so....ingrained. As in, I always thought "other" people can be stay-at-home moms, not me. Wow. It's time to embrace who I am today.