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Leading Our Children, Part 1

As women, we're bombarded with so many models of parenting:

? The uber-mommy track: no employment until the last one turns 18.

? The uber-career track: give em' six weeks' attention, and then get back out there.

? The modified mommy: no employment until they're all kindergarten graduates.

? The modified career: work part-time, school hours only, part time at home, work nights, etc.

Then there are the tracks known to cause certain kinds of insanity in both children and their mothers:

? Work at home full time and parent full time (16 hours per day), otherwise known as "What was I thinking?"

? Work 10 hours a day, commute for 2, and compress parenting into 20 minutes of interaction, if you're lucky.

? Never have any other focus in life but your children ("Ur-Kids-R-U"), even if they're 38.

And finally, there are the various "single parent" tracks that some of us are on. These are the tracks with significantly fewer options:

? Single and working two jobs. You've never seen a custody payment in the mail.

?Single and working a minimum-wage job because you put your ex-husband through college and grad school and never once thought he'd leave you for another woman.

? Single and never married. You kept your baby, but it's tough to find the support you need.

I know we typically don't talk about some of these tracks in Christian circles. But they're reality. And it's good to bust through the clean formulas we're presented at some churches. Honestly, is there a "mommy" formula for any women, including Christian women? I don't think so. The circumstances of our lives are unique. So are our personalities, gift mixes, and family-of-origin stories. The list goes on. It gets even more complex. Most of us try several different mommy-tracks within our 20-plus-year parenting span. What may have been the answer in one part of our parenting era no longer works in another, so we change.

For those of you who are leaders and moms, what is your current "mommy track"? Have you been on other tracks? How do you feel about your choices?

Look for Part 2 on this topic?

February16, 2007 at 10:38 AM

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