Good Enough

As I was hiding peas under cheese in my son's quesadea tonight, I was thinking about my friend Denise, who just had a baby. Denise has been in the corporate world a long time. I used to be a type-A driven career woman too. That's how we met.

Denise keeps asking me, "What's next? What are your dreams? What do you want to be?" I never know quite how to answer. I had all of that angst when I first started staying home. I couldn't get used to the feeling I wasn't accomplishing anything, but I have to say that I'm over it. I don't know where we got it in our heads that being a mom just isn't enough. I remember thinking as soon as I had a baby, I'd have time to write a novel. What did those stay-at-home moms do with their days anyway?

I still have goals and dreams, but they just aren't career oriented. I want to get my kids to eat vegetables, and I'd like to go on a trip to Washington D.C. when they are old enough to appreciate it. I want them to get a great education, and I want to be a part of it, so I'm homeschooling them.

Well, my daughter watched me hide those peas, and tipped off my son, so he is going through the quesadea, and picking out every pea, and placing them on the steps outside. I'll be busy cleaning those up, and wondering if Denise really will reach her goal of inventing at least one product while she is on maternity leave. I'll be proud of her if she does it, and becomes one of those million are moms that I saw on Oprah, but for me, I've decided to be happy and personally unaccomplished. I just don't know how to get it all done.