You know you're a YM Wife when...

I started this blog with the hope of finding other youth ministers' wives.  It is a unique situation that we spouses find ourselves in & I think there is a lot to be gained from sharing our experiences.  In seven years of being a youth minister's wife, I have made some observations of the ways that ministry work is more unusual than your typical 9 to 5 job.  This is not to say that other occupations don't have their own nuances, but I am speaking specifically to my situation here.  So, without further ado, here are (some of) my reflections on what it means to be a youth minister's wife...

- When your small children know all the top 40 songs, not because of your radio station selection, but because of the influence of the youth group.

- Most students at the parish school know your kids because they spend so much time there, even though they aren't old enough to be students yet!

- When you have a serious conversation with your husband about buying the 12 passenger church van when the priest sells it & surprise yourself by realizing how practical it actually would be to own that vehicle...

- When your husband misses your daughter's 1st & 2nd birthdays because he's at Creation for the week with the youth group.

- You rarely go to mass together & if it weren't for being known as the youth minister's wife, you worry people would think you are a single mother.

- When you do go to mass together, you rarely go in the same vehicle.

- Your kids refer to your church as "Daddy's office."

- You end up driving the 12 passenger church van to work a couple days a week because your husband was too tired after taking kids home to go back to church & pick up your vehicle.

- You have eaten more leftover pizza then you care to think about.

- You find it totally normal to drive the 12 passenger van (sometimes with the trailer attached) even though you are the only person in the vehicle.

- Your husband's laundry consists of t-shirts from youth events, funny quips & sweatpants.  Are you living with a college student?

- Date night consists of going to his guest speaking arrangements.

- Lots of kids call you "Mom" that aren't your biological kids & you're ok with that.