Me and My Hobbies

"Do you have any hobbies?" asked an old co worker of mine in an attempt at small talk.
"I dabble in a few things." I answered. If you know me, you know I don't think well on my feet. I haven't been asked that question since I was in grade school and since I no longer play volleyball, raise gerbils, or make friendship bracelets, I had to come up with a new response. "I dabble in a few things," was my way of answering the question without answering it. Conversation is not my strong point.

Over the next few days, I began to ask myself, "What are my hobbies?" I do dabble in a few things that I would like to become hobbies someday, like baking, sewing, cross stitching, quilting, scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking, reading, and various other arts and crafts type things. But the 30 minutes or so a year I spend on each of these things hardly constitues calling them hobbies. So, this led me to my next question. "What do I spend my time doing?" I couldn't count cooking, cleaning, or maintaining my household as hobbies, because those just aren't hobbies.

Then, it hit me. My hobbies are Bernadette and Clare. My two beautiful daughters are how I spend my days and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Being a stay at home mom comes with its perks. I get to spend my time coloring, telling stories, and building legos. I get to teach my two year old her ABCs and watch my 6 month old learn to crawl. I am a constant role model which is exciting and scary at the same time. But, as with all things, there are also short falls to my profession. For the next 18 years, I will continue to put my dreams of baking as a hobby aside. I will proudly proclaim raising my children as my hobby and enjoy "dabbling in a few things" when I can.