Just a Mom

Normally I can shrug off any comments that others make that may sting some, yet if you make a comment about the number of kids I want, or if im finished yet, or anything relating to how 'boring' the life of a mother is, then yes, I get offended.
Our society has spent so much time devaluing the roll of a stay at home mom and pushing the working mom that the average person doesn't seem to 'get it' anymore. So here is my rant:
Yes, I stay at home with my children. Yes, I want more, in fact, I want as many as the Lord will give me. If that means that I will be 'like the Duggars' -yes, I hear that a lot - then so be it.
We as a family have had to make many sacrifices for me to stay home. We budget everything, from the amount of gas money we have per week to our food, clothing, personal items, etc. Our girls wear hand me down clothing, they don't have the nicest toys, or get to go to all of the places that cost to get in, yet you wouldn't know it from looking at them. You see children that are happy, that value family dinner time and daddy-daughter dates. You see a 3 year old who knows she is princess and the only thing that her princess room needs is a picture of her castle(she wants the Salt Lake Temple.) My children are content with their lives and secure in my love for them.
My days are spent playing with children, teaching them how to clean happily, snuggling down on the couch and reading stories, making crafts with fairy magic thrown in and all around enjoying being a mom.
I take pleasure when someone else notices that I am trying my best to be the best mom that I can be. Especially when that person is a stranger. It feels great to have someone else the work I do.
On the flip side of that, I do take offense when someone says that being a mom is 'boring.' That the small joys I get from it mean that I have 'no life.' How little they understand and how much it pains me that I can not adequately explain to them the fulfillment I get from just being a mom. The joy you experience when your baby reaches for you for the first time. The frustration when the nursing baby starts to bite; the relief when that baby understands that it isnt appropriate behavior, the sadness that comes when she wants to have daddy put her to bed and not you. And i've only experienced it for 3 1/2 years! Imagine the rest of the ride.
Maybe I am just a mom, yet I wouldn't trade places with anyone for any reason. I love being just a mom.