The Importance of Feeling Important

Yesterday, I was having a rough day.  I was feeling left out of church, left out of friend's lives and just plain left out of life.  I wasn't feeling important.  I know I'm needed at home, but I don't always feel needed.  My kids are too young to really appreciate what I do for them and what I've sacrificed to make our home life better.  Therefore, I don't feel overly important at home.  That used to be OK because I was important at work.  Man, it felt great to be needed; to have people running up to me asking for advise or help with a project.  I was important.

After talking all this over with my husband, I got to go to the grocery store by myself.  I love doing that.  I can actually look for better deals and use my coupons to their fullest value.  It's awesome.  It also gave me time to really think about my need to feel important.  I thought about people needing my help and being thanked for my help.  What I thought very little about was the actual helping part.  I enjoy that part.  I'm a "Martha".  If there's a task to be done, I'm your girl.  But what I finally realized is that I have plenty of that part at home with my family to keep me busy.  What my ego needed was people realizing they need me.  And when I thought of it that way,  I felt incredibly stupid and selfish.

As I was driving  home from the grocery store all I wanted to do was play with my kids.  I needed to make them feel important.  They are why I stay home and I want them to know I happily and without any regrets choose them over anything else.  Once I got the groceries put away, I joined my kids out on the trampoline.  It was so much fun!  I really have terrific, fun, outgoing kids.  And my husband and I are very lucky.

I must stress, however, that a woman who has had 3 children should NEVER, EVER, NEVER jump on a trampoline without leak guard protection!