What's Your Job Description?

Daughter Faith with granddaughter Jenny

"So, what do you do?"

This simple question sometimes catches me off guard. How to describe succinctly a mother's duties? Last week when I fielded this question at Purdue orientation, I mumbled something about homeschooling my nine children. Maybe next time I should try something like this:

"I dispense the honey of the Holy Scriptures,

          the old wine of the classics,

          the fruit of grammar,

and the dazzling splendor of the stars.” 

                            - Alcuin, monk who tutored Charlemagne and his sons