A Penny for My Thoughts

The husband and I rented Mom's Night Out last night. After watching, I actually said, "wow, they wrote that about me." And I'm sure every other SAHM (or dad) thought the same thing. Sometimes, as parents, we lose it! We get stressed just like in a 9-5 job. The only difference here is you think you are the boss, but you're not. You have clients who want your undivided attention all the time....for years. But remember, you write the code or the system they will use and follow for the rest of their life. You are the person they turn to when they hit a glitch in that system to fix it and make it all better. You are the programmer that will help them make lifelong decisions. That's a lot of pressure, but as parents, it's what we are to do.

 Throughout any single day, I probably have over a million thoughts go through my head. When I decided to start this blog again, I promised myself to be honest with anyone who reads it. And honestly, my thoughts go from a to z in a split second! Let me explain. I've been a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) for four and a half years now. I really do love it. But let me be honest, it's not all I thought it would be. When I worked, I thought SAHM's had it made. Why would you need a housekeeper? Why do you drop your kids off at a daycare twice a week? Stay home for lunch EVERY day? And then I became one of them. I don't have a housekeeper, but I know why one is needed. Who has time to scrub a toilet, tub and shower every week and vacuum when your kids want to jump into the tub when it's covered in Comet or play in a toilet of blue water or scream every time the vacuum is plugged in? And the kid dropoff...that's because sometimes a mom just wants to go grocery shopping without kids falling out of carts or maybe she just wants to go to the bathroom without kids watching her or asking for more milk.

 But let's be real here. That stuff costs money. And I've come to realize that I am grateful for the opportunity to stay at home with Poo and Tater. I'm able to pick up MadPad from school and she can get her homework done early. I can do my workouts at home in the mornings while the kids have their play time. I can keep a somewhat clean house. And I have time to cook dinner for my family (when I feel like cooking)...except on Fridays...I don't cook on Friday nights! I'm also able to be more involved with our ladies group at church and I'm about to venture into my first year of MOPs.

 Here's the honest part. There are days when Poo and Tater are at each others throats ALL day. They argue, fight, tattle, cry and whine. Those are the days I go to indeed.com and see what jobs are out there for me. Marketing. Communications. Stat! And right about that time, those kids will walk up and say, "mommy, can I tell you something?" And in my annoyed exasperation I respond with a quick, "What?!?!" That's when I hear, "I love you, mommy." Close the indeed browser. I already have a job. And I may not be perfect, but I'm pretty darn good at it. I agreed to this job. I signed a contract when those kids were born and my husband and I decided I would stay home. I may not keep this job indefinitely. As a matter of fact, I will more than likely be ready to go back to work when Tater starts school. But until then, I plan to enjoy this as long as our income will allow. I may not always do it with a smile and my selfishness will definitely make a play at times, but I'm sticking to it. I've watched MadPad grow up so fast and I am enjoying not missing a thing right now!

 So that's what's on my mind today. I didn't do any projects this week as I have been playing the housekeeper/mommy role. I did do one last weekend though that I can show you. I found it on Pinterest. Penny Art! The Crafted Sparrow is where I got it and they have a great tutorial on how to create your own. You could also use nickels if silver is more your color. But here is how mine turned out. They will become part of my top-of-the-cabinet décor.

Have a fantastic weekend! The Momma