Why We Do What We Do...

1:35 PM Elizabeth Seckman 24 Comments


It's no secret. Kids keep you busy. They're hug giving, money absorbing, mess making little time suckers. I always thought life would get less busy when my four boys were all out of diapers.

Ha! Not a chance. They went from diapers to schools and ball fields. Their schedules started filling up my schedule. I'm busier now than when I was up to my nose in Power Rangers.

And you know why?

Because I am one of those parents. You know, the kind who does committees, cleanings, and feedings for my kids plus others I didn't give birth to. Some days, I ask myself why...why do I put myself behind?

So, I asked some other moms like me...why do we do it? And here's what we decided:

1. It's glamorous. I mean those Mom tees and hoodies are just so incredibly chic.

2. It's drama at it's best. Move over Housewives...you don't know excitement until you mix the competitive edge of sports with the intensity of mommihood.

3. It's the gossip. We know what's up. We see kids in their natural habitat, and we probably know what their doing before the po-pos.

4. It's the cash. We get to see the budget short falls and get first opportunity to donate money to the cause making us givers...and givers get extra cosmic blessings, right?

5. It's the power. Everyone knows booster/committee parent's kids get extra play time...oh wait...mine warmed the side line most of last night?

6. It's the entertainment. Who wants to sit at home where it's warm and read a good book or watch TV when you can go out in the cold and hang signs or clean locker rooms?

7. It's the exercise. Why shell out cash for a gym when you can lug coolers and haul crates of food?

8. It's the free food. Did you know if you work five hours in the concession stand and there is a crusty hot dog left over, you can have it? Come on...that's a perk. That hot dog would cost you a buck fifty hot.

9. It's skill building. Juggling jobs, homes, and volunteer work will have you CEO ready.

10. It's the social network. Who needs shopping dates with friends when you can sweep up stale fries with the other moms?


Not buying it?

Hmm. Well, then let me just simplify it to one single reason:

It's for the kids. 

All the work. All the hassles. All the stress.

We do it for the kids.


24 comments:

  1. haha yeah I wasn't buying it until the end. Do and do not sure how you do it though.

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    1. What you didn't fall for the crusty hot dog or the tres chic mom gear?

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  2. You sound like a good mom. I wish every parent were that involved in their child's life. Because it's good for the kids.

    Yay you:)

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    Replies
    1. I don't know that I'd say I was a good mom, but I do try to do right by my kids. There's a whole lot of rules I break and plenty of rules I make up as I go along.

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  3. Not quite sold on the crusty hot dog...
    You love your kids and that's what matters.

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  4. Mine never went off to school. They're 13 and 10, now, and my life is inextricably wound up in theirs. We don't have school or sports schedules; I'll be driving them five hours away to trick or treat with their best friends, who live a state away. Our home is a hodgepodge intended to house passions as various as writing, physics, making movies, wildlife, cooking,,,and much, much more. Clean doesn't enter into it - learning is very often an untidy proposition! - but I aspire to have a structure beneath the layers of lovely chaos...

    Yup. I do it for the kids. Tis the best reason! =)

    Enjoy that hot dog, and I hope your hoodie has pockets for your chilly hands when they get a resting minute!

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    Replies
    1. Oh my...did you home school? You guys are like super heroes! I don't know how you guys get it all done. My house is a hodge podge on its good days- a house ready for an episode of hoarders on the bad days!
      We will have time to clean when they leave the nest.

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  5. I was glad to have all the kids in the neighborhood gather at my house. I knew what they were doing, especially my own.

    Love,
    Janie

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  6. Hi, Elizabeth...

    APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!!! Moms like you are a NATIONAL TREASURE!

    Seriously... Well done! I always envied the kids who had moms like you. I loved my mom dearly, but she was a working mom, so I grew up fast. Not much of a childhood because I had to help around the house.

    Your kids will appreciate it ... trust me!

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  7. LOL!! I can't really empathise with you considering being a mother wasn't meant to happen for me, but your post did make me chuckle xx

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  8. I was laughing all the way. And nodding.

    I don't know about cosmic blessings, but being a sponsor will get you preferential seating at choir events. :P And a t-shirt. Gotta love the t-shirts. :)

    I just saw my book in your sidebar. Thank you!

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  9. Hehe, someday, I might join the ranks of volunteer mother. Entertaining list. :)

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  10. I can see that list coming into my future very soon. Hilarious list! :)

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  11. =) Man, all the potential committees and volunteer positions... I could totally overdo. I'm such a minimalist too.

    What can I say? You're a good mom.

    Unleashing the Dreamworld

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  12. Zero kids so that list can wait for me. Or behind me, like Satan. Or more like far from me. Why would I want Satan behind me?

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  13. Yep, we do it for the kids . . . teaching & parenting & writing YA for me :-) Glad you're so involved with your boys!!!

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  14. I do it because my house can never have enough picture frames made out of twigs, I love cleaning their names off my walls, and I adored watching Shark Tale 12 times in 4 days!!!

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  15. Sounds hectic. But knowing me, I'll probably be in the same boat once I have kids. :-D

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  16. You had me at crusty hot dog. lol You amaze me at how much you get done.

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  17. I'm definitely busier now than when they were little. (They're only elementary so it's not like they're that old yet.) But then, I controlled the schedule. Not anymore. :)

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