Not Just a Stay at Home Mom

I think when you meet a stranger, one of the first questions asked is, "So what do you do?". And my response is always, "I'm a stay at home mom.". And that's when I get "the look". If you're a SAHM you know what it is. The head tilt and nod with an "Ohh, OK.". Almost a look of pity but with a hint of "Thank God I'm not you.".

Let me just say first and foremost, I CHOSE to be a SAHM. Being a SAHM is no joke. It's hard work, but oh so rewarding.

Who wouldn't want to wake up and stay home with these faces?

 

 

And don't think for one second that because you work and bring home money to pay the bills, that you are better than me and my job is not as important.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not super woman. I probably do less housework than some SAHMs that I know.  I let the laundry and dishes sit for an extra day, sometimes two and the floors aren't always clean. But one thing is for sure, my kids always have what they need and I am there for them 100%. As parents, we have the hard job of raising the future of America and if we don't instill good manners and teach them the things they will need to be productive and healthy adults, who will?! You can't rely on the school system and its teachers to do that for you.

As a SAHM, I am able to teach them; and to me, being able to watch what you have taught them, watch all their "firsts" milestones, and just be there as they grow is so important to me.


For instance, every other morning when we drop Alena off at school, we always see grasshoppers sitting along the sidewalk or on the walls of the school. The kids LOVE seeing them and their faces light up as if it's Christmas morning. I take that as an opportunity to teach them. They learned what grasshoppers are and what they do. I now allow an extra five minutes just so they can stop and admire the grasshoppers. I proudly stand there as other parents walk by with their kids giving us funny looks because my kids are on the ground gawking over a bug.

Ok, we're not at school but it's still a moment with grasshoppers. You can't see it, but his face is all smiles.

Things like that are what being "just" a Stay at Home Mom are all about.

Let's Try This Again

Wow. I'm bad at this whole blog thing. Every time I try to sit down and think of something great to write about, my mind draws a blank. So I thought that maybe if I wrote about nothing then I wouldn't feel all this pressure to come up with something witty and profound. hah... We'll see how this goes.

Gabe came home May 25th (YAY) and it's pretty much been go go go since then. We have NO time to sit at home and do nothing. Seriously. The last time we even sat down at the end of the night to watch TV or relax was months ago. And don't get me started on when our last date was. Gabe's job doesn't help either. He takes two trips a month, minimum. He travels around the country training deploying troops how to do the job he was doing in Iraq. He loves it and it pays the bills so I can't complain too much. Unfortunately, he has had three trips this month. I flew home in between two of his trips for my best friend's wedding. I came home on a Monday night and Gabe left the very next morning. To top it off, we're trying to get pregnant so all this traveling and busy-ness is making it really difficult.

I thought it would happen right away, no problem. Well, I was wrong and it SUCKS! We didn't want more than a two year gap between kids and as it's looking now, there will be almost four. :( It's breaking our hearts and causing major stress. People keep telling us to relax, try this, do that, don't do this, blah blah blah!! GRR It doesn't do anything for me when the ones saying it are all PREGNANT, have just had a baby, or even both! They succeed in getting me upset is all that does.

I mean really. Is it too much to ask to be pregnant!?!?

Rant over... I feel better now. (not really)

Do it While You Can

My only self indulgence is a tumbling class that I take every Tuesday evening for one hour. Other than that, I don't do much else for myself.

What is tumbling you ask? Back handsprings, flips, and so on. Kind of like gymnastics, but without the equipment. My sister and I started watching gymnastics since the first time we got TV and always wanted to take a class. But Amish girls (and even after we weren't Amish) were not allowed to do that sort of stuff. The closest we could get to gymnastics was cheerleading. In high school, the two of us tried out for cheerleading without my mom's permission and without letting her know. We both made it and only then did we tell her.

Our squad decided to take a six week tumbling class. From the first class, I was hooked. We had always done flips and whatnot in our backyard as kids but to do this in a gym was amazing.

Since then, I've taken tumbling classes on and off but have always had to stop. Life has a tendency to "get in the way". There were three big reasons I had to stop. 1, I joined the Air Force. 2, Got preggo with Alena. and 3, preggo with Christian. Well I started back up when Christian was about 18 months old and haven't looked back since. I feel so great when I'm there. And knowing that I can still do it AND keep up with all the youngins' in the class is a big motivator. I am the oldest in the class by 10 years. HAH yeah, ten! What a way to make me feel old. I may be sore the day after and even the day after that, but I'm not letting that stop me. I look a lot younger than I am so I've had some people ask me why I'm taking the class. "Are you doing it for cheerleading or to learn something?"

Video of my tumbling here


"Uhh not quite. I'm just doing it for fun while I still can." And that's the whole point I'm trying to make. I'm sure there are things that you used to do that you've always wanted to keep up with but just haven't had the chance. What's holding you back? Get out there and DO IT WHILE YOU CAN!

How Many Reasons

I was talking to my husband today and was saying a few reasons of why I wanted him home. So a great idea popped into my head! Why not write down all the reasons?

So here goes...

1. I can go shopping ALONE. -No more dragging two squirmy kids with me everywhere I go.
2. No more leftovers. -This is a big one since I'm not too good at eating leftovers and I always seem to make what would be enough for all four of us.
3. No more bedtime battles. -Wrestling both kids into pj's and bed in two different bedrooms and try to get them to STAY there and SLEEP is on average a 2 hour process.
4. A certain non mentionable act between the two of us. -You can figure it out. ;)
5. Having another child. -See #4. We would love a few more kids to add to the pack.
6. Showers. -I take them at nap time but with a four year old who is trying to convince me she doesn't need them anymore, showers are harder to come by.
7. CLEANING! -Daddy would be able to occupy them while I can actually get something done. Have you ever cleaned while the kids play? It's like shoveling the driveway while there's a blizzard.
8. Sleep. -It would be so nice to be able to sleep in once in a while.
9. I can actually have a face to face adult conversation with him. -Just having an adult conversation would be great!
10. Having someone to cuddle with. -My kids are NOT ones to cuddle.
11. No more sleeping alone. -I don't totally mind having the bed to myself, but on the nights where I have fears of someone breaking in, I can be more at ease knowing my husband would be there.
12. DATE NIGHT! -This doesn't even need an explanation.
13. I'll have my handyman back! -I can't even count how many times I've had to do a husband/man's job of building and fixing.
14. I won't have to answer these same questions nearly every day... "How do you do it? Are you sure daddy's safe? When's your husband get home?" and so on...
15. Confidence boost. -I never realized how much better I feel when I'm in public with my husband.
16. Getting out of the house will go faster. -Well, at least when he's home from work, but still.
17. Discipline. -I will not be the only bad guy anymore.
18. I'll have something to look forward to during the day. -Right now, I look forward to bedtime. I (and the kids)would be able to look forward to daddy's arrival home from work.
19. Bath time. -Gabe is so much better at giving them baths. I freak out over every splash that flings water out of the tub.
20. Dining out! -I can finally go to real restaurants again! Sorry, I don't exactly count McDonald's and such.
21. I'll have a reason to look pretty. -Some days, I have zero motivation to even look decent.
22. I can stop the constant worry. -I won't have to worry if he's dead just because he didn't call.
23. Driving duties. -Sometimes it's nice to sit back and enjoy the ride.
24. Finally being just mom again. -Being mom AND dad's not much fun.
25. I won't have to dread birthday parties and invitations to dinner so much. -I honestly HATE going to these without Gabe there to "back me up". If I don't know anyone, at least I would have him.
26. Weekends. -Without Gabe here, weekends just don't feel like weekends.
27. Happy kids, happy mom. -All around, everyone will be happier.
28. We can finally put the Army and deployments behind us.
29. No more 50/50. -So far we've spent half of our 5+ years of marriage apart.
30. Obviously the best reason would be that he'd be HOME! -Need I say more?

30 reasons...I'm sure I'll come up with more. But these are the biggest ones that I can think of right now. Got any more reasons?... Leave me a comment!