My New Gig

Last week was my first week of being a SAHM(stay at home mom). Well sort of.

Back story in case someone missed it.  David has been home full time since about 2 weeks after the kids came home nearly 2 years ago.  We were very lucky, in my opinion to have this opportunity for one of us to be a stay at home parent.  Our children had a tougher start to life than most and needed the consistent love and attention of a full time stay at home parent.  And with David's attention and care they have thrived more than any of  us could have imagined in the last 2 years.

Since our children's arrival into our family(minus the 3 months of family leave when the kids first came home) I have managed to work part time and remain what I would consider fairly present in my kids lives.  But I worked.  And David didn't so David managed the kids most of the time with my tagging along for the park, the store, etc.  I actually had a good deal.  If I wanted to work extra I did.  If I wanted to meet a friend for lunch or get an afternoon massage or acupuncture appointment I did.  I hardly ever had to manage them an entire day by myself let alone a full work week!  Once David got a break and went to Vegas for 3 nights.  I think I had Amy fly in to help me and then we went to my mom and dad's house for help for the next 2 nights.  Ha!

But David just recently got a new job and so now it is my turn to be the stay at home parent.  I didn't quit my job.  I can't do that for lots of reasons but my schedule is such that I will be the primary stay at home parent.  My schedule is such that I work 4 days in a row(nights actually) and then have 10 days off.  Back to work for 4 days on and then 10 off.  During 2 nights of my 4 days of work the kids are blessed to be with my parents.  The other 2 days are Saturday and Sunday night and David is home.  Every other Monday we have our Ethiopian friend who is a waitress at our local Ethiopian restaurant who will come to the house to watch the kids while I sleep after my last night on.  It all seems like it will work out.

This new gig of mine started last Tuesday.  I was terrified.  I'm not gonna lie.  Like I said I hadn't had to manage these two without David there hardly at all.  Not that I couldn't, but he was always there you know just in case, if I got tired or annoyed or frustrated or wanted a break.  Yeah he got breaks too but only for a few hours or so at a time and if I planned it right when the kids were napping :)

So terrified I was but I had a well laid out plan for our days. After the first day completely and utterly exhausted I thought "wow that wasn't really too bad".  Several more days of staying home my latest take on my new gig is "I LOVE THIS!"  It is different than being a full time working parent and fulfilling in a way nothing else is.  To spend almost every moment with your children exploring, learning, loving and laughing is amazing.  I understand why woman give up careers to do this full time stay at home thing.  Oh did I mention I LOVE NAPS too?   Now don't get me wrong.  It's not all happy go lucky, skipping in the park all day long.  I have a 2.5 year old who still shouts "No!" at me upon most requests I make. His latest thing is saying "Sshhh mommy!" when he doesn't want to hear what I have to say.   Lovely I  know.  But he is 2.  And he is spirited.  We get through those "2 year old" times.  99% of the time it is such a joy to be with him.  The other 1% of the time he is marching his spirited little self to time out :) 

So one week out and I'm mostly feeling blessed for the time I am getting with my children.  These moments are brief and soon they will be off to school and probably won't think I'm so cool to hang out with all day long.  So for now I will enjoy our days together and know there is no where else I need or want to be.