Whose "Job" do you want tonight?

Tonight is one of many, many nights throughout the year that the stark contrast between daily activities in my "job" and my husband's job are apparent.

Let's set the stage and then take a peak into our evening adventures:
Sarah: At home with the boys, in sno-cone stained clothing with her hair up.
Jamie: Dressed in a spiffy new shirt with his "business casual attire" at the baseball game downtown in the air-conditioned suite.

Several snippets of the evening at given moments in time...

Sarah: Receiving play by play information on Jonathan's pooping. "Mom, here's a little hunk. Ooo... there's more poo poo coming out of my bottom. That was a big hunk." Nice. Very sophisticated and refined conversation we're having around here.
Jamie: Watching the game. Talking about anything and everything that isn't poop.

Sarah: Eating watermelon and noodles while shoveling smashed vegetables and turkey to Caleb and getting up randomly to get other items for Jonathan.
Jamie: Eating shrimp, steak, fancy appetizers, and sitting calmly in his chair.

Sarah: Cleaning up dirty dishes and scraping dried noodles off the floor.
Jamie: Handing his dirty plate to a server and getting a different one with another delicious morsel of food.

Sarah: Rocking and singing songs to Caleb while he sits calmly in my arms.
Jamie: No rocking, no singing, just lots of loud conversation with co-workers.

Sarah: Rocking with Jonathan and singing , "Pass It On" and "Our God is so Great" while he rests in my arms.
Jamie: No rocking, no singing, just lots of loud conversation with co-workers.

Many, many times tonight I lamented the spill on my shirt, the messes to be cleaned up, the lack of adult conversation (trust me: we are NOT lacking in conversation... I am ready for silence after a night alone with Jonathan. I just appreciate adult conversation). I wanted to be at the game, talking and laughing and eating good food. It posed the question in my mind... would I trade places?

There isn't one day that I would REALLY trade places with Jamie. I would like to have a one day (or even one week) trade on occasion. I would love to work outside the home one day a week and pursue other things that I find challenging. But never a true trade. Never a trade with the early mornings and late nights he has to work. I would miss the rocking and the singing and even the play by play of the pooping.

Had I traded places with Jamie or someone else, I would have missed this conversation:
Jonathan: "Mommy, Jesus was killed."
Me: "Oh?"
Jonathan:" Yeah, and they put his arms on this thing like this." Arms outstretched.
Me: "A cross?"
Jonathan: "Yeah, that thing. Then he was killed."
Me: "And then he came back to life, right?"
Jonathan: "Uh huh, that's right."

Definitely no trading for me. And many, many thanks to a husband who is second to none for wishing he were here and loving us when he is away.