A couple of surprising things I would never have known.

If I hadn't recently become a SAHM (this stands for Stay At Home Mom-the first thing I didn't know until after my change in career), there are a few things I think I never would have realized. I've listed some below:

1. A Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do. Whether it be dealing with mud, spaghetti, poo or peeps, we sometimes have to get a little (or a lot) dirty and just get the job done.

2. Easter grass does NOT vacuum up well. In fact-it doesn't vacuum at all-it just wraps around the vacuum "wheel" enough times to stop the vacuum and nearly start a fire. Not only does it do that, but when you attempt to clean it out of the vacuum cleaner, you end up with a lot of dusty grass falling out that your 2 year old proceeds to pick up and put BACK into the Easter basket because "Isn't that where it goes??" Now, I'm talking about the non-environmentally healthy plastic grass that they had when I was a kid and (unfortunately) still sell today as opposed to the much nicer recycled paper grass that is becoming more and more popular-that stuff seems to vacuum up fine. Not that I'm going to throw a bunch around to test the theory! I would like to propose that we just do without Easter grass at all-life could be so much easier, No Easter grass, no glitter, No Christmas tree pine needles, okay I'm going a little overboard here, so I'll move on.

3. Fingernails are an effective tool for removing dog poo from the bottom of a toddler's tennie shoe. Umm... Not much to say here other than Eww.. I know you're cringing at me right now, but please refer to number one and maybe you'll understand?

4. And on that note-one unfortunate side effect to being a stay home mommy is that sometimes after dealing with a toddler scrabbling over me all day, and things such as dog poo (as mentioned above)... Well, let's just say that most nights when I go to bed anymore, I want to sleep. I'm very fortunate that I have a kind and patient husband that loves me just as I am. However, I'm sometimes unhappy with myself or my ahem.. "drive"-as it's a pretty big change from how I used to be in that department a year or so ago. Okay, now that I've grossed everyone out way too much, I'll move on... "Next?"

5. There are often surprising opportunities that occur for us SAHMs. Such as my neighbor called me up and let me know that a zoo that is only an hour away is having free admission this week, perhaps we could ride together with our boys and take a picnic lunch tomorrow? Of course, these are exactly the things that my hubby and I were talking about when we decided we're going to try to "ride out" the mommy bus as long as possible.

One of my favorite words is "Serendipity" it is defined as "good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries." That is what a lot of my days are like-serendipitous. I just never know what new discovery that my little guy (or my big girl, too) are going to help me uncover. Yes, it's NOT perfect, I get dirty (eat your heart out Mike Rowe), I get treated like a jungle gym, I sometimes get hit, or kicked, or sometimes yelled at. You know what they say, "It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it." Well, for the time being, that "somebody" is me. I've GOT to do this job-I need to soak it in and revel in it for as long as I can, for even if I find I don't financially need to go back to work, the kids will grow up eventually. I feel it like the humidity of a distant thunderstorm-they'll leave me someday. So, for today, and tomorrow and (hopefully) the days after, I'm going to be here, waiting to see how they'll surprise me next.