Caveat

I feel like I need to write another caveat about my previous post. I REALLY don't have anything against others working and having children, and I don't want people to think that's my beef, because it's not. I guess I'll explain where I'm coming from to explain my previous strong feelings expressed.

I feel like there is a back lash going on in LDS culture from the past. But I didn't get the norm growing up, so my backlash is perhaps coming from a different view. I have heard other LDS women express that they feel like no one told them all they could accomplish outside the home. I feel like my experience in this regard was totally different. ALL my young women's leaders were career women. Some who had been left by husbands, some who had never married, some who were young marrieds with small children. There are two that I can name who didn't work. The women with careers were really, really good at their jobs, and very involved in their communities. Most of them were educators on all levels and I think that is great. I just don't think I got the impression growing up that solely raising your kidlets was rising to your full potential. And now in the ward I am in, there are many women pursuing careers. I am sure none of them have made these decisions without being prayerful and conscientious.

I just realized the other night at Relief Society that I identify with the women who have pursued Masters and Doctorate degrees, but that technically, okay not at all, that's not the category into which I fall. And there is a part of me that that bothers. I originally wanted to get my PhD in nursing, but now, I honestly really don't:) But there is still that part of me that wants the worldly street-cred.

I guess my point is I want to make a case, an air tight case, that it's okay to "just" be at home with your kids. To just spend your days working to help mold and shape their minds. And, of course I have outside hobbies and passions I would love to solely pursue for hours each day. If there were more hours in the day, I would pursue them! But it's okay to put those things aside right now and forget about the "achieve, achieve, achieve" mentality today's society kinda rams down your throat. Luckily I have the belief system that allows me to know I have eternity to work on everything I want to become...whoa, I think I just had a huge aha moment! Maybe that's why we feel such a dichotomy, why we feel so strongly about it on whatever side you stand, because inside of us we have all those things, and eventually we will all have a chance to do it all, it's just a matter of timing. Here's to eternity!