I got a lovely compliment the other day, when I was told that I was a Renaissance Woman.  She said, you bake and decorate, you are an artist, a mother, even a scientist!  I laughed it off, but after thinking about it for a minute, I realized that there are a lot of things I can do fairly well.  I’m not sure if being a nurse, even a nurse practitioner qualifies me as a scientist, but I think for today, we’ll role with it.

It’s actually not very funny when you realize that society and family demands require us to be “Renaissance Women”.  Think about it, how many different incarnations of you are there?  As for myself, my very minor list of accomplishments includes making my own wedding dress (ok, so it didn’t have seed pearls, but it did have embroidery and lace) all the way up to making my children’s wedding cakes.  I’ve been a life guard, taught swim lessons, acted as swim coach, played secretary for a few years, full time chief cook & bottle washer, La Leche League Leader, Booster Club president, Cake Decorator supreme, a labor & delivery nurse and now I work as a nurse practitioner. In this day and age, it’s almost a requirement that we do it all. I certainly can’t afford to hire someone to do everything that needs to be done, so I have to do it myself, whether that’s painting the front room, planting strawberries, nursing the baby, or helping dress and bathe my elderly, forgetful older relatives.

Time to pat myself on the back and realize all the things I can do well, and try to focus less on my imperfections.