On the Flip Side

The instant I hit the 'Publish' button on my "High Cost of Living..." post of two days ago, I had a rebuttal for it. In a perfect world, I would have sat down and written that immediately on the heels of such a negative set of words.

But Life walked in the door fifteen minutes after I wrote that post, I lived my ten hour Daycare Day and followed that with mowing the lawn and visiting with a friend that evening and woke up to my Youngest Son's birthday yesterday morning.

So here is my rebuttal. Two days late ... but there is a definite upside to my low (per child) daycare rate.

The flip side of the negative?

• I get to stay home!
• Multiply that rate by four children and multiply that by ten hours and it equals 'just enough'
• I am my own boss (for the most part)
• These guys keep my mind and my body moving
• I have the ability to talk with a friend while I work
• I work for some very amazing and kind people
• Quiet time (!!) in the afternoon
• I get paid to sit outside and soak up the sunshine
• I get paid to count ladybugs, listen to the birds and walk through tunnels
• I absorb the wonder of a one year old, as I gaze up into the sky find myself mesmorized by a plane or watch the garbage truck
• I notice the small wonders of the world - like the reflections of a sparkly shirt in the sun and birds playing on the street
• I am in on the ground level as my Little People learn new words, sentences and physical feats of amazement
• I am making my house work for its keep. There is nothing sadder than a beautiful, oversized, immaculate house that sits empty as its owners run off to work each and every day and the little time they have left over after working to pay for such a monstrosity is spent cleaning and maintaining it. 

That last point is a big one. We have a modest home but I can honestly say that every square inch of the house, yard and garage are being utilized 24/7 (the exception to that may be the front yard ... but there must be a way to make it work for me as well!).

What is the point of having a beautiful house if you are not home to enjoy it? Working from home is the key to my inner contentment. Everything that I am doing today, is heading me in a direction to continue doing what I am doing for the rest of my days.

Sure enough, I may want to trade in my Daycare Buddies for people my own age one day. A Bed & Breakfast? Room & Board? Taking in foreign students? There are many ways I can continue to make my home a vital and important part of my income earning strategy.

My bookkeeping is heading to a place where I will be able to (primarily) work from home again. Once I get my knowledge base firmed up, well versed and experienced maybe I can take on some more work-of-that-kind.

My writing is inching along. I never want to get out of the habit of writing. But it certainly doesn't pay the bills. Not yet. But if I just keep on writing what I write, who knows where this may lead one day. It may lead to nothing but memories for my children and grandchildren to hold onto when I am not longer writing out loud. But in the meantime? I am averaging about $3.78 per published column ...

I don't think that I was set on this place called earth to become rich. But I am rich in everything that matters to me. I have a wealth of everything that money can't buy, which is most likely why my hourly rate of income is the least of my worries.