Crochet Me Crazy

I read an article today about "Losing motherhood" and it really got me thinking. I feel strong about certain things which makes me bit strange and different. I am a stay-at-home mom. Especially now that my kids are getting older, I look around me and realize there aren't any other stay-at-home moms. I realize that in this economy more mom's have to work to make ends meet. Maybe it's because my mom was always home even when I got older. It still seems important to me to be with my kids. I guess I'm very old-fashioned and I don't want to be any other way. My husband and I made that choice when Michael was 2 years old and I'm glad we made it so early in our marriage when we were poor and I made more money than Jeff did! It was just a priority and we never learned to depend on two incomes or have two cars, etc. Sometimes the grind gets old and you feel useless but I guess it depends on the standard you are holding yourself up to. I struggle sometimes with what people think is important and question whether it's okay for our family to be so different but then I remember that I am holding ourselves up to the wrong standard when I think like this. I guess I would have fit into an earlier generation better than my own. My kids ARE normal...it's the over-sexed, uncreative generation of kids that I am seeing today that are not normal. I was not saintly teenager so I know real life but I also know that it could have been different for me. My children are definately different. I think being different isn't very popular in today's culture. Our teens are supposed to fit-in and act like "teens" are supposed to act! People just don't know what to think about teens that don't care about those things. They both have interests and likes and dislikes that they choose for themselves not because its popular or what is expected of them. I guess I've done my job now that they are this old, I don't think I could force them to be "normal" teens if I tried! It's too late for "normalcy" for my kids and for that I say "Thank God!" I've watched some of my kids friends morph before our eyes into "actors" playing a part to fit in. Others aren't acting but run head-strong into the moral decay or our schools with gusto. Either way, it makes me sad to see it happen to these kids and its sad for my kids too. So that being said, homeschooling my kids hasn't been an easy road to take and I've second-guessed and questioned myself along the way. I guess I won't stop that until my kids are grown and see them as happy adults. Notice, I didn't use the work "successful" because I don't think the standard for success I have is the same as others. I just want my kids to be true to themselves and be the best God made them to be and accomplish what the good Lord put them on this earth to do.