About Me, Midlife Crises, and Craft Projects of Love
I came across an article re-posted by a friend on Facebook (where else?) titled, “The New Midlife Crisis: Why (and How) It’s Hitting Gen X Women.” The article was shocking to me, not because I didn’t identify with the contents (I did), but because I realized that I’M MIDDLE-AGED! Nope. Not me. I mean sure, I’ve already celebrated my 40th birthday. Yes, the sewing machine I bought brand new is older than my daughter’s first skating coach. Alright, so I choose comfy sneakers over cute heels almost every day, and I haven’t been to last year’s fab new restaurant yet… I prefer Facebook to Instagram… Ok. Yeah, I see it. The question is: Now what?
QueenMom.me
The name of the blog came from my daughter. I was hiding my midlife crisis deep deep down inside, under smiles and snacks and volunteering and errands, where no one else could possibly see it… except my 7 year old. She recently left me an orange post-it on the kitchen counter that read, “All hale queen mommy” – Not a drop of sarcasm or irony anywhere to be seen. I thought, “Darn right! All hail Queen Mommy!” And that’s where it starts.
Full-time Momming
Seven years ago I took what I called a “Mommy Sabbatical.” I purposely took myself and my fundraising career out of the market for what I thought would be a few years. I am full-time Momming, something that I LOVE, but has been hard to admit to people. When asked, “What do you do?” I reply, “I’m a fundraiser, oh, and I volunteer and stay home with my kids.” That’s ridiculous. It’s been seven years – is that even still “a few”? I’ve had some fundraising contracts over the years, I’m still good at it, and I still give my professional opinion when asked, but surely not enough to list it more loudly and proudly than my love for being a stay-at-home mom. Still…
I used to contribute at least equally to my husband’s and my finances. I used to be asked to share my talents and expertise with others. As a person who believes in self-reliance and equality, I often feel the self-inflicted guilt of not bringing in a paycheck. I *could* be earning money. I *could* be using my post-grad education. I *could* be sharing my talents. Which brings us to this moment right here. Right now.
Do What You Love
I’ve always sort of hated the expression “Do what you love!” I love to do a lot of things. Or maybe I just really like to do a lot of things? Or maybe I have to do a lot of things that I’m pretty good at, but don’t love, and I’m choosing to be all glass-half-full about them? Because really, what do I love to do?
I love to support my kids’ dreams, share things I’ve learned, and make useful stuff. Right now, that almost exclusively revolves around figure skating.
Yeah, that’s sappy. It’s in no way high-powered-executive-type stuff. Only Midlife Sarah could publicly embrace that answer. But that’s who I am. At least right now in midlife. And who knows? Maybe you love those things, too. (I mean, raising *your* kids, not mine, obvs). Or maybe you want to love those things, but don’t know where to start?
And now I’ve got a YouTube channel! It’s here: QueenMomMe. I have subscribers and everything – hoping to keep adding interesting videos so as not to let them down…
So please accept my midlife craft project of love* -in ice skating mom blog form. Let’s do this!
*The term “craft project of love” belongs to the brilliant Annette Hanley. Some of her amazing work is on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/market/annettescape