I'm going to be serious for one minute here

I know, I know. I said I was going to be funny.

But hey, it's my blog. If I want to hop up on my own personal soapbox, I can. (Don't worry. I'll hop back off quickly.)

A friend of mine recently dared to ask on facebook, "Do the rest of you stay-at-home moms get bored at home all day?"

She was rewarded for this bit of bold honesty with a barrage of Polly-Sunshine advice such as, "You should do school at home with the kids," and "I would clean or cook. Laundry alone takes so long!"

Other moms said helpful things like: "Really??? Are you kidding...I feel like there's NEVER a dull moment all day." and "Wow this question baffles me!  How I wish I were bored!"

Excuse me ladies, but I'm going to call BULL. You are all telling me that you are supremely fulfilled by wiping butts and noses all day?

You're telling a woman who is bored by the sameness and seeming nonproductiveness of her days with a small child to DO MORE WORK?

How about we tell the truth here. At least among ourselves?

Being a stay-at-home mother of small children is mind-numbingly boring. This is the truth no one wants to admit.

This job requires constant attention yet almost no engaging of your actual brain. It adds up to days boredom and frustration, for which you are occasionally rewarded with little moments of wonderful.

It's an important job. This is why we do it. But it's (gasp) not really all that fun.

But instead of admitting this, even to each other, we stay-at-home moms are apparently expected to pretend that we LOVE EVERY MINUTE.

God forbid we should tell the truth. "I love my kids, but they drive me nuts."

Now maybe you disagree. Maybe some of you mothers really are ecstatic every second of every day at home with your little darlings.

But for me personally, I love about ten seconds at a time.

I love that ten seconds when my little boy brings me a flower and says, "I love you Mommy." Before I realize the flower came off the neighbor's bush... which I told him not to touch.

I love that ten seconds when my daughter says to her sister, "You're my best friend." Before they start fighting again over something stupid.

I love that ten seconds when my little girl comes into my room in the morning and says, "I want to sleep with you Mommy." Before she starts wiggling and kicking me and generally making it impossible to sleep.

But these lovely little ten-second snippets are accompanied by hours and hours of everyday, not-so-fun, boring stuff. Your days are full of the dull stuff you have to slog through to get to that magic ten seconds.

And maybe that's why I really appreciate the good moments when they come.

Because it's worth it.

(For another take on this same subject, check out http://momastery.com/blog)