Staying Home

I never wanted to be a stay at home mom. As a matter of fact, I never really thought about being a Mom other than the fact that I knew I wanted more than one kid. I actually have a desire to have four kids - 2 boys and 2 girls. I have my boys now I need my girls. On a side note, why are boys names so much harder to pick than girls names? We have two girls names ready to go and we have had to scramble and reject lots of names to come up with boys names we both like. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, staying home. All through college I thought I would be a teacher, then I got to be a teacher and that didn't work out so I started over with nursing. It took me a while to get ready for nursing school and then get accepted and go to nursing school. I graduated and had high hopes for working hard and making lots of money. Obviously that one didn't work out like I had planned. A "no thank you" denial letter from the state board of nursing has forced me to stay home with my child for a while. We are in the process of appealing the state board's decision, but if they don't reverse what they have said, I will never be a nurse and will be looking for yet a third career path.

I have mixed feelings about staying at home. My mom tried it very unsuccessfully and I just assumed that I would hate it also. I don't hate it but some days it isn't my favorite. I love my two year old headache with all my heart, but I have learned that sometimes you have to give the child away and just sit in your home and do nothing to gain some sanity back. I have also learned that just because there are 24 hours in a day and all of mine are spent at home does not make me a good housekeeper, nor does it make my home cleaner or more organized. One more thing I have learned is that a 2 year old does not self-entertain for 10-12 hours at a time. The child must be stimulated. However, on the positive side, I have learned to better clean up after myself and I LOVE spending time with Will and watching him learn and grow daily. We go to the park or the mall to play almost every day because he needs the social interaction and I need a break. I only wish I had more energy. In 6 weeks and 1 day I will have another child to add to our family and I am excited about that, but being 7.5 months pregnant makes me tired all the time and it is difficult to keep up with Will and the house chores.

All in all I am surprised at how much I enjoy staying home, and even if I am able to get my nursing license, I will probably stay home much more than I had intended. I think I would like to work 1-2 shifts a week rather than 3 so that I can spend time with my kids and not miss anything. I love our family and am blessed to have the opportunity to stay home and learn how wonderful it is.

The Kindle vs. The Book

There is a product out there that is not new but has interested me since Matt told me about it. It is The Kindle. This is what it looks like:

I was helping some friends move out of their apartment a week ago or so, and the husband was complaining about moving all the books. He promised his wife if she never bought another book that she could have a Kindle. They start at $350.00, which to me is a lot of money. I scoffed at the idea of never buying another book and proclaimed that I just can't read on one of those things. I also happen to LOVE the smell of books. I love to hold books, I love the way the pages rustle, I love everything about them (except that if you store them someplace damp they will mold).

Matt got real excited about the Kindle when he first learned about it and decided he wanted one. Well, we can't afford one right now, so he did the next best thing which is download the free Kindle application for the iPhone. I HATE the Kindle app for the iPhone. I hate reading books on it because it's too small. You can only fit so many words on the screen and I feel like i'm always turning pages and it drives me crazy! Plus, reading on the phone runs down the battery quickly. I swore I would never get a Kindle because I don't like reading on the phone. As a matter of fact, Matt bought a brand new book on the phone and I refused to read it so we had to buy it in hardback for me. We bought the book twice (which is what we were trying to avoid) because I refused to read on the phone.

Helping my friends move all of their stuff made me think about all of the books we have and how I so don't want to move them when the time comes for us to move again. It was pointed out to me that a real Kindle has a much larger screen than the iPhone, and you can have all the books you want in one small, easy to carry, easy to pack device. While I still love books and almost everything about them, I am contemplating the Kindle one day when I have $350.00 burning a hole in my pocket. The allure of not having to move all the books is tempting. Plus, if I find a book that I really love and love to read over and over again (like Harry Potter or Twilight) I can always get the books in hard back just so I can have them. We will see.

So, what do you think? Kindle or Books?