Officially, I quit to be a stay at home mommy the first of March, 2008. Now, 1 year later, I am now home with a 1 year old, 2 1/2 year old, and a 4 1/2 year old. I am also now working, however little, 2 times a month. But really, the kids do not know that I work except I may miss a little of breakfast on a couple Sunday mornings and I may be tired those mornings.
Being a stay at home mommy is a lot of fun, but is a lot of work. The "job" should be titled, "family manager" because of all the hats at home mommy's need to wear. During the average week, I do several loads of laundry, prepare several meals and snacks, clean, clean and do more cleaning (and I thought I would be home more so the house would be cleaner. But the kids are home, too, thus making more messes!), vacuum at least daily if not multiple times daily, I am the official Austin Family accountant, I take the kids to their various activities and birthday parties, take the kids to fun places like the zoo and children's museum monthly as well as frequent trips to the library, parks, shopping, visiting great grandparents and grandparents, swimming, etc. We try to keep active away from home, but there are plenty of things we do at home, too. Alivia and Addison like to play hide and seek, play with their dolls while Asher likes to play chase and bring all his cars onto the wood floor and play "vroom!" All the kids like play-doh time and coloring, although Mommy would rather the play-doh remained outdoors...what a mess! The kids and I bake something, generally once a week, for dessert. Dessert is the kids' favorite thing!
What I did not know about being a SAHM? Well, I did not consider all the Dr appointments and having to take 3 kids with me. I miss being able to go and get my hair cut and all those girly grooming things. I would love to cut/color my hair...but twice a year is really a blessing. I tend to go to the grocery store at night because grocery carts are not made for 3 kids, and Alivia just gets too tired to walk all over the store. Yes, HyVee has great school bus carts for 3 kids...but I refuse to pay their prices! I also thought SAHM moms went shopping a lot. Um, I rarely go shopping. I shop online or do quick errands with the kiddos to find birthday gifts with Alivia. Alivia and Addison like Von Maur and Westroads play area, so we do go there probably once a month (at least they have great taste!). Alivia likes to pick out her own clothes, too.
Being at home has shown me how much I missed with Alivia and Addison while they were in daycare. They were in daycare, really, very few hours daily when compared to other kids. However, it is amazing how the kids have changed being at home. The early years of a child are extremely important. Chris sent me an article about the influence of children during the early year. Basically, the article stated that children that are actively involved in activities such as reading, active play, and visiting educational places were more fun and active children when compared to children that were contained in play or TV time surrounded by walls. I am blessed to be the one to be able to make the big difference in our kids during the day. That is what being a mother is, right? That is my primary job from here on out. Even if in a day the only thing we do is learn our address and how to dial 911 on the cell phone, or we make a mess in the kitchen because I let Alivia do the dishes (or play in the water), or we spend a morning playing with all the dress up clothes from Aunt Marsha and match them with mommy's shoes...they are having fun and learning upon the way. Chris may wonder when he walks in after work at 5:30 and I had not even thought about dinner, "What have you guys been doing all day." And, Alivia usually say, "Um, we played." My job was fullfilled...in more ways than I can count. Now, onto making dinner!
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