What does any of this have to do with goldfish?

My two girls are big fans of salty, cheesy snacks.  They're not big eaters, and I don't ever remember a dinner where I didn't sit between them at the table, saying "take a bite.  Take a bite.  Take a bite!" over and over- but give them some sort of cracker, or some cheese, and they'll eat it by the handful.  They love Saltines, they love Cheez-Its, and they REALLY love Goldfish.

You know... goldfish.

A couple of years ago, our lives were very, very different.  I worked full-time for the years that Tom was in grad school.  He worked a few part-time jobs, but I was really the breadwinner for the family, and Tom was the primary caregiver for our kids.  My mom was fond of saying "he's their Dad AND their Mom!" which would always make me grimace, but I understood what she was saying.  The girls got to have Daddy home with them every day.  Tom was super dad, driving them to school, packing lunches, doing their piggytails and picking out the appropriate leggings to match their dresses.

My life plan, my family plan, had always been to stay home with my kids until they were at least school age.  But when Tom sat me down and talked to me about going back to school to become a minister, I realized that things were going to change, and why not?  I'd depended on him to provide for the family-- why couldn't he depend on me for a while?

Our family flip-flop went fairly smoothly, but I'm not going to lie.  I spent a good amount of time being jealous.  When I'd call home during the day and Charlie wouldn't want to talk to me because she was playing a game and didn't want to be disturbed, or when I was pumping for the third time in a day in an empty office at work and my boss banged on the door and told me she had to get in the room RIGHT THEN because she had to look for something "important" as I'm sitting at an empty desk trying to empty my brain so I can make more milk for my baby who is home with her daddy all day long, it was hard to remain upbeat about our current situation.

One day I was sitting at my cubicle talking on the phone to Tom, who was having a hard time with the girls at home.  I tried to be empathetic, but when I hung up I found myself complaining to my co-workers.  "Seriously, how hard can it be?  Put on a movie, throw some goldfish on the table, and call it a day!"

Well... now our jobs have shifted again, and I'm the one home full time with the girls.  Spending my days with a three year old isn't easy, just as it wasn't easy when Tom did it with our older daughter.  And yep, there are times when I follow my own sarcastic advice- I throw some goldfish on the table, distract the kids, and take a deep breath.  And keep going.