A blog about my career as a parent.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

I'm a stay at home mom (SAHM), but I prefer the term Professional Parent. After all, being a parent to three children ages 7 months, 4 1/2 years, and 12 1/2 years causes you to draw on several different job skills. I'm a chauffer, cook, laundress, maid (although admittedly not a good one), nurse, drill sargeant, tutor, editor, and psychologist. I'm sure there are a few others I've forgotten to mention, but they'll come up in later posts.

Being a Professional Parent for the past 12 1/2 years has been the greatest, most wonderful, and most frustrating experience of my life. My two daughters ages 12 and 4 are as different from one another as possible. Now I'm finding out how different it is having a son, even though he's only 7 months old, and I'm not just talking about learning how to speed diaper so as not to get sprayed.

My 12 year old has a form of autism called Asperger's Disorder. She is the quintessential rule follower and keeper of the routine. She's smart, funny, and beautiful. She's also a lot of work, but well worth it. We are constantly having teaching moments, because she doesn't understand social nuances. We also have a lot of misunderstandings that lead to great humor, because she takes things so literally. Just the other day, she ran shrieking from the room because I was talking about another parent "dressing her son down". She of course got a mental image of her friend naked. She's been melodramatically claiming that she's scarred for life by the image in her head.

My four year old is the polar opposite. She thrives on change. She wakes up every morning wanting to know what we're going to do. She loves it when we say we're going somewhere new. She is definitely "the glass half full" type. She'll comfort her big sister and tell her everything will be okay. It's great knowing that I've given birth to an eternal optimist. I think she'll probably live a long and happy life because of her sunny disposition.

My son is incredibly different from either of his sisters, even though he's only 7 months old. He is at the moment mommy's boy, not to be confused with mama's boy. He looks at me in a way that is completely different than his sisters did as infants. It's obvious that for the moment the world revolves around me. I'll admit I'm enjoying the adoration for the time being, because I know how fleeting this time is. He is our observer. He watches his sisters all the time. He also finds something funny once. After he's had his giggle, he's finished. If one of the girls makes him laugh, the next time they do the same thing, they get a polite smile or a tiny chuckle.

It's amazing how three children from the same exact gene pool can be so different from one another. You'll be hearing a lot about them.