My 2 year old daughter Anaya is going to be a great mom some day! She loves to take care of her siblings (even the older ones, which doesn't always go well!) She loves taking care of other kids (which doesn't always go well!) She loves taking care of her babies (which goes well, since they have no will of their own). When her baby cries she comforts her, rocks her, and kisses her owies all better! When she lays her baby down for a nap (singing her to sleep) she makes sure everyone else in the house knows her baby is sleeping and needs to be quiet. When one of her siblings messes with her baby..... LOOK OUT!
I have been thinking a lot lately about how Anaya might answer the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up" as she gets older. Answers to this question seem to vary all of the time from kid to kid, and in reality the answer changes a lot as the child gets older. This question often elicits grandiose dreams of what they want to be when the grow up from astronauts, professional athletes, famous musicians, movie starts, and on and on it could go. I wonder how people would respond if Anaya as a teenager answers the question by saying, "I want to be a mom." I fear that people would almost perceive that as someone who is settling for something less than what she should be aspiring towards. As if "being a mom" is not enough. That seems to be the general tenure of our modern culture. That if a woman chooses to be a stay at home mom, she is somehow being restricted by traditional family values that keep her in the home and do not allow her to pursue her dreams and become successful in her career. I hope this changes. I don't know that it is realistic to think that it will change but I want my daughters (and sons) to know that "to be a mommy" is a worthy, honorable, and beautiful desire.
While I can't change how other people perceive the beauty, importance, and magnitude of someone who above any other "career" aspiration, just wants to be a mom! In some situations mom might need to work outside of the home in order to provide for her children, but she works not to pursue her career, but instead to provide for her kids. She doesn't see her kids as a painful interruption to her career, but instead as a beautiful gift that the God of the universe has placed into her hands.
My prayer is that my daughters and sons know that being a mom is a beautiful things to aspire to! I can do that by making sure that I am always honoring my wife for the mom that she is to our kids. To encourage her and praise her in front of my kids. To remind my kids that children are a gift from God. I don't know what Anaya or any of my children will be when they grow up, but my prayer is that they understand how beautiful and important being a mommy is!
