Gone SWAT

I may be way behind on this one, but my cousin Kristin informed me a while back that I am what is labeled to be a "SWAT" mom.  Smart.  Woman.  Available.  Time.  And of course this is true.  I mean, for God's sake, I have a master's degree, was a school administrator for several years, belonged to all kinds of important boards and did professional or otherwise intellectual things smart grown-ups are supposed to do.  I was the bread-winner.  And, on top of that, I was cool.  I went out with friends for dinner and drinks, and I had a cool car-- wait, ok first it was a Jeep, then a truck, then a small sedan, then a sporty wagon.  Ok- the sedan was a Neon and the wagon was a Mazda, but compared to the mini-van I drive now, they were cool.  Now I'm a SWAT mom.  After Joe and I had Addie, we got pregnant seemingly the next day (maybe it was a couple months later), and... who knew?  TWINS!  The high school where I worked just required too much time, and I really never gave it the time I was supposed to from the beginning, forget about what I could give them with three babies under a year and a half old.  So when twins came, and we learned that day care would be- O. M. G. -more than five hundred bucks a week, we decided I would leave my job, we'd up and move back to Maine, and I'd be a SAHM (stay at home mom, in case you're also new at this).  So now I am that.  A SWAT SAHM.  Yep, I have a part time job, which I enjoy fully, which gets me out of the house, and which does not require an advanced degree.  And I make jam.  I do this because I love it, and I can do it at home, thereby working AND being a Mom, which I also love.

And, having available time also gives me plenty of opportunities to do things I'd never really cared about doing before.  Like standing around outside in the winter in my pajamas and Joe's muck boots, trying to determine whether or not my chickens are intentionally mooning me like high school kids out a school bus window.  Ah, those were the days.  Smart Woman?  Available Time.