I could answer this in a humourous fashion or, in a ticking-off-what-I-do-way.
Ticking sounds boring.
But then not everyone "gets" my humour. Being slightly "off" helps.
My role in the family I've co-created is "Mom."
I'm quite happy with that moniker as it applies to my role(s).
There have been far more articulate and thoughtful ways of describing what a Mom is but I'll stick to what this mom is.
Ha ha--this is cute for comparison:
The job titles that best matched a mom's definition of her work are (in order of hours spent per week): housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO and psychologist.
Now moms and their families can use the Mom Salary Wizard to create their own "mom paycheck". The tool allows moms and their families to price the "mom job", based on location and mom's personal hours worked in each of the 10 roles. Users can create a hypothetical mom paycheck and mom pay stub, which can be printed and emailed to family and friends for Mother's Day.
On the housekeeping/janitor front--yeah, I rule. Not that I'm anything special in housekeeping but I direct the traffic, so to speak. I do many tasks that none of the other three residents (all men/boys) would think to do. For example, each of them claims to "not (be) able to see dust"!
CEO: I cop to that one because all things being equal--they aren't. I run the show. We are the "Family Circus" (such an apt title for that amusing little comic).
The psychologist part of being me is one that comes naturally and that I trained for so I think perhaps the role I enjoy most--though figuring out someone who doesn't want to be figured out is a challenge pain in the keister.
I don't cook anymore. I have no desire to do so. I do like to eat though--especially really good food--and my morning cup of coffee is nirvana in a mug.
Ugh! "Laundry Machine Operator"!? I hate doing laundry but if I don't do it every single day it gets out of control. I'd say I do about 12 loads a week. Pay me. :)
Computer Operator. Um yeah, when not doing household "stuff" I'm on the computer and 95% of my time on the computer is work or work-related. Unless it's a tech-type issue and I can can manage even some of those, I rule the Computer Kingdom in this home. (The Gamer, right now on his really big and impressive gaming computer would counter that his is bigger than mine. I'm fine with that.)
Facilities Manager: What?--the person who does maintenance? Uh, no that's a boy's job, thank you very much. I gave that up when I stopped being a single mom. lol
Van driver: hahahahahahahahahahaha. No. I do ferry both boys to and fro but it's in my Mustang GT convertible, which eldest son refers to as "your third child." It's an apt description.
Kids are too big to need a "daycare center teacher," though I've been there and done that for a number of years, both paid and unpaid.
I do try to help my youngest stay on track with schoolwork, especially. We have a daily debriefing after school with the goal of him sharing what's happening at school. Most importantly and the reason we started to help him--is to stay organized with all his school-related responsibilities. The biggest bonus in doing this is that between reciting all his classes and what they did, I get to hear about the in-between-learning-stuff. In high school there's plenty of that. I'm sure I don't hear about everything but what I hear is often both amusing and informative.
EDIT/ Where's "Activities Director"? Hey, 'ya gotta have fun. The boys are not terribly imaginative when looking at the big picture--with the big picture being anything outside of this town, so I run that part of things as well. This is truly fun. Currently, I have Ontario, Canada and Southern California to coordinate for the family and now, Orlando, Florida for me. Busy, busy.
That's all I feel like writing about my role in my little family. I imagine if I queried others I might get other insights. Perhaps in another post.
Cheers!
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