Introductions

I suppose I should start off by introducing myself and my "little" family. There's me, a 30-something. I have a masters degree in music, (hence my screen name: blondesoprano) but haven't really gotten to do a whole heck of a lot with that degree. My first child interrupted that career path for me, so I've had to find other things to do instead. :)

I married my husband in 97, and he's nearly 40. He's a music minister at a Baptist church, and we recently moved the whole family nearly 1000 miles to answer this special ministry call. He's a sweet, quiet, thoughtful man, who perfectly balances out my exuberance and over-extravertism.

We have three children, aged 9 1/2, 6 and 4 1/2. (Yes, those last two were definitely God's spacing, not my choice. *chuckles*)

My oldest son has ADHD. He was diagnosed when he was about 6 1/2. Anyone who has a child with ADHD, suffers from it herself, or knows a friend or family member can tell you that it can really interfere with "normal" everyday life. Fortunately for me, my son C was my first kid, so I didn't know what normal really meant. We live with a modified "normal" everyday, and it's not always fun, but it works for us. :) C is in third grade right now.

My 6 year old daughter, T, is a typical drama-queen little princess. She came into the world 4 weeks early, beet-red, and screaming at the top of her lungs. She's grown into a wonderfully sweet little young lady, but she still has her own ideas about things, and won't hesitate to let you know if she's upset about something. T is a kindergartner.

My little baby boy, D, is too charming for his own good, and quite the precocious little guy too. He can already read and write about as well as his sister. For the most part, he's easy going, good-natured, and a true cuddle-bug. He's heading to kindergarten in the Fall, and that will mean we have three in school and no more "babies." A real bittersweet time.

I was really looking forward to starting a career in opera/choral singing. I sometimes see my friends who are living in NYC or LA and maintaining very successful singing careers and think... wow, I sure wish I could do that too. But when I look into the eyes of my little ones, I know that God gave me a different path than I thought I would take.

I'm not going to sit here and say, oh parenting is wonderful, my kids are perfect, and I don't mind at all any sacrifices I've had to make, because they're all so WORTH it!

But neither will I complain that my life is over now that I've had kids.

What I will say is that trying to raise children when you don't have much money in this country is SO hard. I am not one of those mothers who fed her babies organic homemade baby food, used 100% natural unbleached cloth diapers, or has a spotless home. I don't have a degree in teaching or early childhood development. I learned a few tricks from working at a pre-school for a couple years and from some parenting classes along the way, but mostly I just wing it. I don't have a perfect plan, my house is always a disaster, and we are pretty unorganized. I clip millions of coupons and shop sales to get freebies or super-cheap stuff, just to keep our bills from being more than a couple months late, so we don't go into bankruptcy.

And here's a little secret. While it would be nice to be able to be home when the kids get off school in the afternoon, I am actually really looking FORWARD to getting back into the workplace. Spending time at home listening to non-stop child jabber & arguments, cleaning out poopy underwear because the kids just won't potty train, and worrying endlessly about how to pay all the bills just wears me out and keeps me on the brink of depression. Getting back out there with adults and quiet times, and meaningful work to keep me busy sounds like a little piece of heaven right now.

I'm sure I'll feel differently once I'm actually in that dream job, though! *smiles.*

So that's just a peek into my life right now. I hope I'll think of a better blog title soon. For now, I hope you enjoy "Still working on a snazzy title." :)

~N~