I have been wanted to post on this topic for a while. I had this conversation with a couple friends a few weeks ago and then one of them posted a blog post from the infamous
Matt Walsh that couldn't be written as well as he did.
I get so dumbfounded when I hear people say to me that I get to stay at home and I don't do anything all day. It's so absurd I can't even speak when someone says it to me. I've always told my husband that I think going to work is just as hard, but my job as a stay at home parent is JUST as hard. It is just in a different way. My husbands job is more physical, hard labor and I feel mine is more mental but at times can also be physical labor. No job/career will ever be exactly the same but work is work and it is all tiring at the end of the day. There are many things throughout the day I feel people take for granted that mom's would LOVE to have again.
For example a shower by yourself, no door left open to hear the kids or kids running into the shower screaming and playing or one of them got hurt so you have to get out dripping wet with soapy hair. Must be nice to take a long hot shower in pure silence. Going to the restroom without knocking or banging on the door, the knob turning over and over or fingers slipping through the bottom of the door trying to get in. When I go to sit and eat by myself after the kids are done, I can't because they want to sit by me and not next to me, ON MY LAP! When I do want to just sit down and drink a cup of coffee they are either sitting on me or of course when you sit down someone got hurt or the kids are fighting over a toy and then it's up again. I'm sitting here as I write and the kids are sitting on me sliding down my leg, getting off and on me. Now Mykah's head is in my face and Boomer is getting jealous so now his head is in my face, my phone to the sky as I write this. There is no privacy what so ever. Is that it? Ohhh no.
From the moment I wake up I am non stop on the go. I wake up and cook breakfast just to do the dishes and clean up food spilled by messy toddlers. Then take my oldest to school.Then it is off to put some laundry in then clean up toys (that will just be out again an hour later), clothes on the ground and whatever else that needs to be cleaned. When that is done it is lunch. More cooking, cleaning up their mess and then dishes. Now maybe nap time but no there is laundry to be done. Fold it and put it away.Then when they wake maybe the kids want to go outside and play, just to track dirt and mud into the house. As I take their clothes off to give them a shower dirt comes pouring out of the pockets and sometimes for me even worms. Time to vaccum. When they get out of the shower it is time for me to put some clothes on but "I am a big boy mom, I can do it". So I let them change by their self just to take all the clothes out that I just folded away. Time to go pick up Akai. Then back home for dinner and more dishes. Then there is homework and reading. Then shower, brush teeth and bed ×3 for me.
Awwww bed. A break right! No not a break because every mother is always thinking about their kids even in their sleep. Once you have children sleep will never be the same. A mother is always worried even when they don't realize it. It's like being half awake and half sleeping just in case your children wake up in the middle of the night because you need to be there for them. You need to hear them because having children is always like having a newborn. I still check my kids to see if their breathing. Not like when they were babies but as a mother that worry never goes away. It is VERY exhausting but VERY much worth it.
Now I am not saying everyday is crazy. Yes I get to go hang out with my girlfriends and have playdates. Maybe drink a glass of wine, relax and have fun. Yes I do get to be home with my kids and spend time with them and watch them grow but most days are what I explained above and if your someone that thinks we sit around all day and do nothing you need a reality check and I would love for you to come take a day in my shoes and see how much work it really is.
Here is me the stay at home mom in my pajamas just woke up. I probably stay in my pajamas half the day unless I leave. When I drive Akai to the bus stop I am still in my pj's ;)
The kids room. We have 5 bedrooms and I still stick two of them Iin the same room because I don't need another room for myself to clean . I am taking advantage while they are young.
The kids eating lunch.
We have forts on a daily basis whether It
Is inside or out.
Boomer helping us chop and stack the wood.
Walking back from the bus stop.
Laugh and Love
Christine
