Being a Stay at Home Mom is.....

I was talking with the lady who does my hair not long ago about being a stay at home mom. The first thing she asked me was, "So, is your house always clean since you're home all day?" Ha! If only! Then it dawned on me, I probably had the same assumption when I was working (and before I had kids). I laughed as I explained to her that the reason I'm home is so we can do fun things together that ALWAYS inadvertantly trash my house (playdough, glue, cook together, build forts, etc)

It is a vicious cycle of getting my house 100% trashed and then having enough time to get it 80% clean. Cut to the next day with my 80% clean house...we trash it again by making pancakes together in the morning and then finger painting, etc. Again, I only have time to clean up 80% of the mess (at best), so I'm left with a 60% clean house. The next day, we do it all over again. I think you get the picture. By the time the weekend hits it looks like a bomb went off. I find beads from Mondays art project still under the table, my cell phone in the laundry basket (courtesy of Chloe, which she most likely did when I was busy cleaning up our bead art session), socks under the recliner, one kids shoe in the laundry room (the other one is still missing), etc.

Man, these little creatures really can make a big mess while I'm still busy trying to clean up the mess that just happened. Sigh. I often think my house would be cleaner if I worked full time, that way we'd only spend a few hours a day in it as opposed to all day.

Before I became a stay at home mom, I would day dream of being at home with my kids in a perfectly clean house (because after all, I was home ALL DAY), with something in the crock pot for dinner, kids involved in activities while I quietly watched from the sidelines. HA! Oh, and by the way, I always seemed to be showered/dressed/makeup on in these daydreams. How wrong I was.

So to set the record straight, being a stay at home mom is....

• Being there for your kids from the minute they get up till the minute they go to bed


• Leaving dirty dishes in the sink to go play My Little Ponies for the zillionth time that day because you know eventually your kids will want nothing to do with you.


• Never peeing alone and usually eating 2 of my 3 meals while standing.


• Taking 30 minutes to cook a box of Mac and Cheese because your kiddos want to put on their own apron, pick out their own spoon, pour each ingredient into the bowl, mix it with the personally hand picked wooden spoon and spoon it into their own bowls.


• Leaving the house unshowered because you decided to let your kids in bed with you to make a fort and play under the covers instead of send them away while you take a shower.


• Mid day walks/tricycle rides thru the neighborhood the instant it stops raining.


• Turning the task of loading the washing machine into a 3 person job because everyone wants to help.


• Building memories with your kids all day long.


• It really is the most rewarding job in the world.

That said, I love my girls and being home with them, love afternoon nap time and am starting to accept the fact that my house will always be a wreck, my life will always feel unorganized and it will always take 3 times as long to get something down when you have little helpers around.

Life is all about the journey....