okay so my children are twenty and twenty four and uh
oh
my son just moved
uh to Arkansas so he's married so course uh uh when when they're here when they lived here and i have a daughter whose twenty and we spend a lot of time together
uh-huh
uh-huh
not so much as you know we're we both have everybody's busy but when my kids were younger
i was a single parent and i spent most of my life with my children i did a did a lot things with the kids
oh
yeah
but uh yeah it's uh a i don't i i
i one thing that happened is when when my son uh graduated from high school and he went off to college
then it it drastically changed uh before prior to that we had sit down dinners and we talked and we did a whole lot of things and then when he left
uh-huh
uh my daughter and i just kind of said well let's just kind of do what do our own thing and uh
uh-huh
you know i i think that might i don't know i don't know you know it's been so long since i had little children at home i'll i'll leave it up to you as to what's really going on these days
yeah well i first of all i'd i admire you for i have a few friends who are single parents and i just don't know how people do it
yeah
that's is a tremendous burden to be working and have two kids to take care of
uh-huh
right
and i don't know how you did it but um i have a six year old that's well she's in first grade and then i have a three and a half year old and um
i have always been a big advocate of spending tons of time with my kids
and um when i my first one when she was born i had to work part-time for a while because we had to have the extra money
but when the second one came along i was fortunate enough that i i quit and i've been able to stay home and um
oh so you're not working now great
no no i don't work yeah and so i'm one of those few old-fashioned moms and we
uh i spend the whole day with Tara and we go and do things and we read books and we play and you know it's just it's great and i did the same thing with Taylor
uh who's my first grader she's also a girl and uh i think i think i can tell a real difference um Taylor has excelled in school like i just
i never imagined she would she's at the top of her class in everything even though she's almost two year younger than almost all the kids in her class
hum
and i really feel like that um time i spent with her i mean she probably already had a lot uh
of it in her but you know we spent a whole lot of time together reading books and doing a lot of things i think it helped her to feel real good about herself and
feel like she could she could do it you know
yeah
so it's it's been real rewarding for me anyway
right but you know if uh uh i know now that i can look back and and i think about how much
how much time i devoted to my children and and
not necessarily but sacrificed a social life because i really did devote myself to my children basically i mean
oh i'm sure
uh-huh
i mean i was i mean i did some things but i mean i really did but i have no regrets about that and i you know um
yeah
uh-huh
and i can look back and it was so much fun being a kid with them and getting to do all the fun things that
uh-huh
uh-huh
you know you get to do it that kids get to do and and that you wouldn't do by do you know with other adults
right
so it's great fun i really envy you
yeah
yeah
this is a wonderful time of your life
well it is you know as a matter of fact i think i'm real bad about looking ahead and thinking oh i don't ever want them to grow up and you know go away to college and all that kind of thing
but at least i'm really making the most of the time while they're little and um everything Taylor even attempts to do you know we go and watch her and
and support her and that was something my parents weren't able to do and i resented that because i would be in i was always in plays in high school and in all kinds of drama and they could never come and watch me and that just
it was so hard for me so i made a vow that when i had kids no matter what they did i was going to be there you know
um-hum
and see them do it so it and like you said it's fun i really enjoy it
well i can remember my my mom started working
my parents well course both of them worked but my mom started working when i i was third
the last the youngest and she started working when i went to first grade and i can remember
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uh-huh
just a couple of few times that she would stay home and i i don't know if she was sick or just wanted to take the day off or what but
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come home from school and you know every like you'd tell that she'd just mopped and she had you know food was cooking and the house smelled so good
uh-huh
uh-huh
uh-huh
uh i tell you what i'd take i don't know if children who maybe children who have that everyday don't don't don't appreciate it as much as you know
uh-huh
but uh it really was really was a special and i wished that she could have been home more it would have been greater because she was
yeah
yeah
because she worked she was always kind of high strung and you know
uh-huh
didn't have the time to spend with us individually so
right yeah
i think it's great if if uh if if you enjoy staying home with your kids while they're young and and can do it
yeah yeah
that's great i wish i could stay home now
yeah i know well i feel i feel really thankful that i can i mean we have had to really lower our standard of living you know we have friends who have beautiful homes and we have a very small old house
but i just to me that's not important because i feel like we'll have plenty of time to get us a nice house some day and i won't have these you know these little kids all my life so
that's right
um i just i have been willing to make the sacrifices and my husband has too and so it's not been a problem for us
well and and uh so you probably have a lot of friends who have small children do you do you find the the trend is uh
right
away from what you're doing or that they're not spending that much time with them put them off with
sitters and how about
well it's interesting we're real involved with a church group and so most of our friends are uh church friends
right
and they're the majority of them do stay home uh almost all of my friends i can call any time of day and they're home
but um the friends the friends that i've kept in contact with from you know when i did work and they're still working moms you know uh that
right
i feel like i real big uh difference in opinion with some of them because some of them work just because they enjoy working you know they they don't really have to work they just want to they like to get out and
they don't want to be with their kids all day and and that's hard for me because to me they're giving up something so precious you know and um
yeah
so any time we talk get on that topic i have to be real careful because i'm afraid i'll say something to offend them
but um most of my friends do stay home so that it's kind of nice we we have a big support group around here
well that's great
yeah it is i don't know how long everybody will be able to afford to keep doing it but if
well
i guess you just get used to you know living however you have to live to
well i meant you know i meant
if you don't ever have to go to work and you and you're you're happy you know even if your
yeah
uh kids all the way through high school and then it doesn't mean you have to go back to work
right yeah
so
yeah well i intend to uh i think when they're both in school i may i have a degree to teach and um i've never used it because i was pregnant when i graduated from college and i've always had you know been home with kids or worked part-time
but um i might go into like substitute teaching or something because
okay the hours are at least to be home you know
yeah yeah and i can choose they say as a substitute you can tell them the days that you're interested and you know the days you're not you don't have to so
that way uh maybe then then you can find out if you're really happy doing that if you want to do it full time later on
right yeah because i have a feeling i'm not going to like it when i did my uh student teaching i oh i hated it
so that's good
i said i don't know why i majored in uh elementary education and here i'm about to graduate and i don't even like this
well maybe now that you've had your own children you'll like to be around little children or have a little little better tolerance
yeah
yeah
yeah it'll probably make a whole difference and plus i didn't feel well at the time i was pregnant and i was real sick and
that'd be tough yeah
yeah i and you just don't feel like being around all these little kids when you are just sick to your stomach
but anyway it's been nice talking to you
nice talking to you and maybe i'll talk to you again okay bye-bye
and uh thanks for calling bye bye
