mr. vegas

Warning: This post is more of a vent than a post J

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I took a 3 day vacation with 4 other moms to Las Vegas. My plan was to watch some news in my hotel room (we don’t have cable at home), lay out by the pool, eat at the free buffet included with the room and do some outlet shopping. It was just as great as I imagined, if not better. I do enjoy a good slot machine but I wish Vegas would recognize that most people DO NOT smoke these days and make designated smoking sections for those who do like to puff and play but that’s not the reason for this post.

All of the ladies agreed that what we wanted to do all day was lay out by the pool. It was super crowded and most of the shady spots were taken. The cabana (which included shaded couches, lounges, inner tubes for the lazy river, a fridge, a TV, an outlet and our own private waitress) was kind of pricey but we talked to the guy in charge and he seemed willing to come down quite a bit to give us a deal since it was a week day. While we were haggling, I mentioned that a few of us were stay-at-home moms who desperately needed a break from our crazy days with the kids at home. His response was so idiotic that it didn’t register for a few seconds. “Oh, so you guys are here spending your husbands’ money while they are hard at work,” he says. I’m sorry, WHAT???!!! There are so many things wrong with that question I don’t even know where to begin.

I try to keep in mind most of the time that I am a Christian and I am representing the church, and even though it was incredibly challenging to hold my tongue, all I did was take a deep breath, shake my head, smile and walk away while the other ladies finished talking to Mr. Vegas. I doubt this sleazy man who appeared to be in his mid 40s was married, or at least not happily married, because he flirted with women poolside all day and I know he did not have kids. Otherwise he would not have said something so ignorant. Luckily I have a blog where I can vent when people like him get my blood boiling.

For some reason, I thought people generally had respect for stay-at-home moms. I’m not saying working moms have it any easier. I honestly don’t know which is harder. However, what this man was implying was that our husbands were working hard making money while we contributed nothing to the household income and simply babysat. And long overdue mini vacations are irresponsible and selfish.

I would have loved to have a long conversation with this uneducated man about how I used to work as a customer service manager. I would say that about 90% of my customers were angry and insulted me and the company I worked for daily. My day was filled with reports, deadlines, politics, a condescending and sexist male general manager and customers who called me names and often used profanity. This was my job for 6 years right up until the day before I went into labor with my first child. Not to mention my hour long commute in bumper to bumper traffic there and back.

I thought a job like that would prepare me and give me the tools I would need to be a good mom and wife. Things like patience, multi-tasking and managing my household. Boy was I misled. Being at home with my girls is far more challenging than I could have ever imagined. It is far more difficult than my job as a customer service manager for more reasons than I could possibly list.

My job now is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The day starts with my two-year-old waking me up at 5:55AM shouting from her crib, “Mommy, I go poopoo!” The day ends after I put my girls to bed (who don’t actually go to sleep for another hour after they are in bed) then I clean up the mess that has taken over every room in the house, do the dishes, brush my teeth, wash my face and fall into bed. Add a pregnancy to that and forget about it! But that’s not even the hard part about staying home with the girls. Sure the job is physically demanding but the hardest part is the constant, screaming, fighting, crying, time-outs and figuring out how to keep them entertained so I can get the laundry done so my husband has underwear the next day. They are also professional button pushers who have learned what sets me off and love to watch mommy’s crazy come out.

The thing is though, that I stay at home with my girls because my husband and I have made this choice for me to be their primary caretaker in order to create stability and a healthy environment for our children for as long as possible before we release them into the wild land of school and peer pressure. We believe that this is giving them a strong foundation. We are doing what we feel is best for our kids at this time.

I really wanted to enlighten Mr. Vegas but it probably would have gone in one ear and out the other. And that’s okay. I don’t know him. And his backwards views on marriage and parenthood are not my problem.  Maybe one day he’ll have kids and change his mind. Maybe he won’t.

We did end up getting a killer deal on the cabana and had the loveliest day I’ve had in years. And I put my anger aside for the day because it was my time to relax. My husband and I both know that we work super hard for our family and that is good enough for me.

God has blessed me greatly and I can say that I am happier now than I’ve ever been. Most of that is having a relationship with Jesus Christ. And it is a good thing too, because he sends his Holy Spirit to guide me in my day to day choices. Choices like whether or not to lose my temper when encountering people like Mr. Vegas. And choices like becoming a monster or taking a deep breath when the girls push my buttons. How does anyone maintain sanity without Jesus? I’m glad I will never know ;-)



 

This is my sister and I floating along the lazy river in our giant matching hats ($12.99 at Ross!) and black matching bathing suits. We looked so cheesy that we decided that we would be Deena and Trina, sisters visiting from Kansas.