Don't hide your light under a bushel

Since it's Monday I thought I'd start the week with a nice up-beat post. I happened upon an article in Glamour this weekend that asked readers the question - "What are you most proud of?" The responses varied from getting a first roommate-free apartment to leaving abusive relationships. So I got to thinking, "What am I most proud of?" It was surprisingly hard to come up with a list. Women, as a gender tend to spend a lot of time focusing on our shortcomings rather than celebrating what we do well. Men, on the other hand, can give themselves credit for successfully trimming their nose hair. So on this Monday, dear readers, I took some time to make my own list of things I am proudest of. If you have time this week to comment, don't tell me how awesome I am (you can do that any day), but tell me what you are proudest of in your own life. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm starting to sound like someone who sits in a TV studio in Chi-town with enough soft lighting and make-up to make sure she doesn't look like the hag that she is (hint: her name begins with O), but let's give it a try.

So without further ado, the list of things I am proudest of. I kept it short, and proceeded chronologically.

1. I am proud that I lived through the year before my wedding. Not because I was planning a wedding, but because in addition to that I was going to school full-time for my master's degree in Elementary Ed, student teaching and waiting tables. I think I slept about four hours a night, but it showed me how strong I am when I have to be. Oh yeah, and the master's thing is pretty cool too.

2. I'm proud of the work I did as a teacher. I think I was firm, but I was also pretty fun. Hey, I took 120 nine year-olds to see the first Harry Potter movie on opening day while I had morning sickness (perhaps that was more to get out of, say, teaching, for a day and sit in a dark movie theater eating saltines). I like to think I touched some lives though and maybe some kid will remember me twenty years from now, "Man, I had this bitch of a teacher in fourth grade..."

3. I am proud that I delivered my middle child without an epidural. Sure, it wasn't by choice, that damn anesthesiologist got called into an emergency C-section (please lady, mine's coming out my vagina can't you wait ten minutes?). It was damn hard and damn painful, but I'm glad I did it - an experience I DID NOT repeat with my third delivery.

4. I am proud that my kids are really kind. Both my girls would rather walk on glass than make someone cry and I have to say that makes the day-in day-out stuff worth it.

5. Finally, I am proud of my relationship with my husband. This marriage stuff is not all it's cracked up to be. Throw some kids in the mix and I see why people can want to head for the door. I am proud that we weathered, the death of my mother, a spell of unemployment after our oldest was born and a miscarriage and are stronger because of it. And while I'm at it, I'm proud of the fact that I wasn't too proud to sling joe at Starbucks to help us get by when we were broke (I still hate freakin' Frappucino's though). These rough times are what give us our history together and make us who we are. The fact that I still want to make out with him after seventeen years
is an added bonus.

So there you have it. It might seem self-aggrandizing, but I think it's high time we started tooting our own horns. I look forward to hearing some serious toots from my readership. Seriously, no one else is going to do it.

* I am not proud of the fact that my kids watched two episodes of Wow Wow Wubbzy so I could write this.