The Burkett Bundle

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you...

My father and I once had a debate about this song. I won't bore you with the details, but the end result was that we learned that Jim Croce wrote this song about his son. Since December 21, I have truly come to understand the meaning and desperation of this song. These feelings and the special needs of my babies, have caused me to make a huge change in my life. Through lots of prayer and the support of my current employer and wonderful husband, July 2 will be my last day of work and I am going to try my hand at being a stay-at-home mom.

I have always been very career-oriented, so when I got pregnant, and even when the babies were born, I fully intended to continue working. The plan was for my mother to quit her job and for us to employ her as our full-time nanny. However, the babies need their mommy right now, and God has shown us that we can make it happen.

I do plan to make myself available for freelance work, so if you know anyone in need of public relations/communications efforts, please let me know.

This is not going to be an easy transition for me. While I will love every second of being home with Kyran and Karyssa, I will also miss adult companionship. I will miss working and using my skills on a daily basis. I will miss leaving the house every day. I will miss having extra money to go shopping for clothes I don't really need or other such luxuries. When Jason and I both worked, we shared the housework. Staying at home will mean I am mostly responsible for not only caring for two beautiful children, which is a full-time job in itself, but all of the cooking, cleaning, animal care and budget management (which will be much more difficult with only one income). I know there will be days with babies crying, toddlers getting into everything, or young children telling me "no", that will make me want to pull my hair out.

But there is so much to look forward to. On nice days, which we had a lot of this spring, I will love taking the kids to the playground or the zoo. On hot days, which we have a lot of now, I daydream about bringing them to the pool. On cold or rainy days (anything under 60 is cold as far as I'm concerned), I get excited about building forts inside the house or playing board games. I will be the one to teach them to talk, walk, eat solid foods, use the potty, read, say their ABCs, count to 100, add and subtract, and oh, so many other wonderful things.

When they have their first day of kindergarten or graduate high school and move on to college, I will know that, although I can't save time, I will have spent as much time as possible with them.

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
of how they were answered by you.