I’d like to say that I’m rocking this temporary SAHM thing. But I’m totally not. This is about as natural to me as peeing standing up and not having it run down my leg. Which is to say it’s just not natural at all.
And today was not fantastic. At all. Not even a little bit. (Until I opened a bottle of wine. And then it got better.)
I always have high hopes for summer break. I’m always all “Oh, we are just going to have such an amazing time!” And then the summer gets here and Joshua decides to wake up twice a night AND get up at 6:30 in the morning AND be cranky and unreasonable and I?
Wish I were at work.
Seriously.
Only I don’t wish I was at work because then there’d be essays to grade and grammar to teach and I’d miss my kid because he’s calling his teacher at school “Mama” and I’d be all “WHY CAN’T I JUST BE AT HOME!?!?!?”
Quite the conundrum, no?
Dan says I’ve been really cranky when he comes home which is making him get all antsy before he gets here because he expects I’m going to be in a bad mood. I think I only have one or two of those days a week and he’s being ridiculous about the fact that I’m always in a bad mood when he gets here.
In reality? I’m probably in a bad mood as often as I’m in a good one. Which is kind of a crap shoot for him, right? And totally unfair. But y’all, the whining. THE WHINING.
If I think too hard about this, I venture into unsafe territory. I get into the “I’m a bad mom” waters because I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. And those are some deep, deep waters, y’all. With sharks.
I feel like other moms are more well-adjusted to the whining and the tantrums because the juice MUST be in the YELLOW cup and NOT the BLUE cup but they are the SAME cup except different colors.
But the part of me who hangs out on Twitter knows that moms who do this SAHM thing all the time and not just part-time like me get just as frustrated by those kinds of antics as I do.
I think part of my inability to adjust to this new gig is that I know it’s temporary. I know that in four weeks or less, it’s back to the daily routine we go.
Back to work I go.
Back to only seeing him for two hours a day.
I think part of me is really reluctant to get used to this because I know that as soon as I do, it’s over. Done.
For another year.
::sigh::
I think every child should come with at least an 18 year supply of wine and chocolate. We could all use that whether or not we stay at home, right?
Kenna Ray
Tuesday 12th of July 2011
I always think I'll enjoy summer break. I plan all of the activities the kids and I will do and all of the fabulous bonding time we'll have. By the second day, I'm ready to go back to work. I'm just not the "activity" kind of mom. They're also not the stay-at-home-and-play-with-mom kind of kids. They've gone somewhere (daycare, school, etc.) every day of their lives. It's best for us all.
Good luck!
Dawana
Tuesday 28th of June 2011
Wine, chocolate, an instruction manual and oh- they need to come out of the womb potty trained. Just sayin'. I feel your pain all though Pea isn't home with me all day, she has to go to daycare, cause I have to pay, but I bring her around 11, and she gets up at the asscrack of dawn also. Oh and sleep? I don't know what sleep is. She wakes up a bazillion times a night, always ends up in our bed, sleeps like a friggin schizophrenic maniac and... OMG I could go on. I was a SAHM mom for 18 months and there is no part of me that longs for the times when I stayed at home all day with my child. There just isn't.
I. Feel. Your. Pain.
Miranda
Wednesday 29th of June 2011
Wine and chocolate. I like the way you think.
John
Tuesday 28th of June 2011
I'm about to enter on a two week stretch that will allow me to see my kids, if I'm lucky, for an hour a day. I leave for work before they're awake. I might get a tiny bit of time with them between work & rehearsal, but I'll be back home well-after they're asleep.
Cherish the summer :-)
Miranda
Wednesday 29th of June 2011
I do cherish it. Most of the time. I'm incredibly thankful for a job that allows me this time with him. But sometimes it gets really, really hard. Really.
Paulette
Tuesday 28th of June 2011
Sadly, some little ones (much like pets) do not understand the fine art of sleeping in or the craziness of their requests/demands. My 2 girls fight over the craziest things. Who knew drink in a certain cup or with certain straw (son even gets in on this straw issue) was such a big to do. So cannot wait to tell them these stories when they're like, "Mom, you just won't believe what the kid/kids did today!" and I'll be all like, "Wanna bet?"
Hang in there! You're doing a fine job. I sometimes miss being a working mom for those very same reasons. But even though I'm home now, I worry they don't get my full attention as I'm forever cleaning this or that, not to mention the laundry! =)
Miranda
Wednesday 29th of June 2011
I do worry that he doesn't get my full attention. All the time. Whether I'm home with him or working, I've always got something on my mind. I have a hard time shutting myself off.
Elle
Tuesday 28th of June 2011
As someone who has been both a working mom and a SAHM, I feel like being a working mom is so much better. I'm counting down the days until I can get out of the home again.
Miranda
Wednesday 29th of June 2011
I think it's easier, in part, at least for me, because my teenagers can COMMUNICATE. They don't have meltdowns and when they do, I can show them how ridiculous they are being and they (usually) get it. Notsomuch with the toddler, though.