- Stay at home Moms get a lot of criticism at times from people who may not understand exactly what they do all day. As a part-time employee at my job and full-time Mom at home, I feel like I’ve seen both sides of the coin. If you don’t know, I’m a RN working in critical care. I work two 12 hour shifts in a row per week. That leaves the other 5 days to work at home as a Mom.
- What does a stay at home Mom do, you ask. My answer: what doesn’t a stay at home Mom do! While you’re wondering what we’re doing; we’re still in our bath robe. No, not because we’re lazy. It’s because we tried to squeeze in a 2 minute shower while the baby was napping and the toddler was occupied with something that wouldn’t kill her. Meanwhile, the baby is awake and hungry and the toddler is on top of the kitchen counter. Then it all starts again; endless feedings, repetitive diaper changes, and a continuous making of nutritious snacks for a finicky yet bottomless tummy, complete with snack plates that accumulate before you can clear the previous ones; all the while cleaning sippee cups of milk that have clabbered after having been stuffed behind the sofa. You can’t get that out of the no spill apparatus! Above stated bath robe is covered with snot, spit up, macaroni and cheese, and poop. No problem. We’ll just add it to the continuous pile of laundry that cycles in and out, day after day. While cleaning, feeding, bathing, and keeping out of harm, we’ll make sure to nurture, hug, kiss, love the children, while teaching right from wrong, and not loosing our temper in the process. We’ll manage to dish out all that love and energy to the children, but still appear attractive to our husbands, giving them the proper amount of love and attention that they require to know that we love them now just as much as the day we got married. Exhausted yet? Well, you can’t be. You gotta prepare dinner, get the kids ready for bed, and hope for some quality time with your spouse before you both pass out cold.
- As I said, I’ve done both. So hats off to working Moms too. You do all of the above when you’re not pulling a 9-5! I’ve decided that both of my jobs are equally challenging. Taking care of my girls all day is like getting a really sick patient at the hospital. With both, I spend the whole time running my butt off, doing the absolute best I can. I end up astounded when I look at the clock and realize how much time has gone by, yet how much I still have left to do. With both, I’m often overwhelmed. With each, when I’ve done the right thing and improved the situation, there’s a fulfilling sense of accomplishment for a job well done. With one, I get paid a check. With the other, I’m paid in love. The one job I could choose to leave if I so desired. With the other, I’m in for the long haul. As I see it, I spend 7 days a week, 24 hours a day working. If you’re a Mom, whether you work out of the home or not; you do the same. I say we take this moment to congratulate ourselves and reach around and pat ourselves on the back. Ok. That’s enough. The baby just blew up her diaper, the toddler is in your make-up, and the supper is burning. Back to work!!
That is all 🙂