Last week, Baby M & I stopped into one of our restaurants just to say "Hi". I am chit chatting with an employee about this & that & asking about his wee one. He then asks the question/makes a statement that really is quite offensive & tends to set me off on a tangent...like I already don't have enough that sets me off on a tangent.
Employee: "So, what are you up to these days? Just being a mom?
Me: "Yes, that's right. I am JUST being a
mom."
Seriously?!
Because staying at home is a walk in the park.
It's oh so glamorous.
Yet, this statement coming from a male, is really not big shocker to me.
First of all, for myself & I am sure for many other SAHM's, there are trigger words and/or statements that will, most often, make the person that said those particular words and/or statement, want to take cover because I may/may not unload on them.
"Just a Mom" happens to be "that" statement for me.
Yup, that's me, just a mom sitting in front of the "idiot box"(a little something my step-father liked to call the television...a pleasant term, isn't it?) watching soap operas & talk shows all day, all the while, letting my wee ones run rampant as if they are characters from the novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies.
I wish! Well, not really. Only sometimes, kind of.
Here's a little reality check to the ding dong(s) that have made that trigger statement to me. You know, just a small glimpse to what my day/night really is like. No two days are alike because we are a family of 5, which means, different days of the week mean different days of craziness.
Mornings usually begin anywhere between 5am & 6am by way of screaming baby. Let me add that the early wake up call is after only getting between 2-4 hours of less than blissful sleep. No joke. Always a heavenly way to awaken each morning. NOT!
Change diaper then nurse.
Two more wee ones slowly meander from their rooms & within seconds are talking, talking, talking & questioning, questioning, questioning before I am able to consume even a 1/4 cup of coffee.
(I am, by no means, a morning person. Just ask my family. I am pure evil. It's pretty ugly. I have a hard time tolerating any kind of chitty chattiness of any sort until coffee consumption.)
Then, prepare breakfast, pack lunches, get backpacks together, clean up breakfast, help with homework, argue about getting dressed for the day and brushing teeth, send older wee ones in rooms for time out because one or the other just kung foo kicked the other in the face and/or screamed out "JERK FACE"!
Hustle out the door to catch the bus then hustle back inside to possibly take a shower, get me & the babe dressed for the day, listen to babe wail because I am not lugging her about, then head out the door for appointment or ready ourselves for Baby M's physical therapy session only to have to stop, again, to change yet another poopy diaper. Yippee!
4-year old complains that she is hungry even though she just had breakfast 20 minutes ago. Get her snack then clean up the trail of crumbs that she has bestowed upon me.
More baby sing song-y wailing.
Baby is still sick,therefore feed her more good bacteria killing antibiotics & hope this medication finally works.
Vacuum & mop the floors while lugging an extra 18 pounds aka Baby M.
Put, yet another, load of laundry into the washer/dryer.
Find crafts project for 4-year old, put baby down for nap & put in another load of laundry.
Fold, fold, fold the mountainous laundry pile & possibly, put away.
Head outside with 4-year old, if it happens to be nice enough, & get a bit of much needed fresh air.
Lunch time!
Make lunch, clean up lunch. Baby now awake. Nurse baby, change baby, feed baby "real food". Oh crud!
Down to my last cloth diaper. Put diapers in wash & feel guilty about having to cover baby's bottom with disposable diaper.
Get over it and move along.
Clean up baby & head to the supermarket.
Unload groceries & wee ones.
Put away groceries.
Entertain wee ones, change another diaper, find another snack, play the nurse role, clean up & do dishes AGAIN!
Start prepping for dinner, walk down to bus stop & pick up son, empty out backpack & talk about his day at school, get him a snack.
More wailing.
Ask myself, "What the Hell was I thinking??? Motherhood blows!"
Then watch baby roll herself into sitting position & smile with accomplishment.
I then say to myself, "This is why I wanted to play the role of Mom." And clap along with baby for her major accomplishment.
Another diaper change.
Break the older kids apart, yet again.
Prepare dinner, ask older wee ones to help set the table to only have to separate once again because they are arguing about who is going to place the napkins.
End up setting table myself.
More wailing from babe. Give babe basket of food containers as entertainment so that I may finish dinner.
Daddy is home! More chaos.
Bring dinner to table, clean up the food container mess, fix plates for the wee ones. Remove myself from table for the millionth time because somebody needs something.
Finally sit down, help feed the babe, get a few bites in and try to rally for clean up.
Clean up dinner, do dishes, get an older child in shower, tidy up the babe & dress her for bed, get snacks & waters for older children & prepare for quiet time.
Bring baby to bed, nurse then head back upstairs to read books and put older children to bed.
Do some final tidying up.
Finally, get my pajamas on. It is now probably 8:30or 9pm & it feels like midnight.
Just when it is finally quiet, oh, what is that sound? Why, it's the baby wailing once again.
I'm super-excited at this point.
And, this is an easy day. Almost like having a day off. Oh wait, I don't get days off. In fact, it's rare that I get any time at all to myself.
I would love to use the bathroom by myself!
That would be a cause for celebration!!
Which is why, at times, I do envy my husband and others who are part of the work force outside of their home because for many once they clock out from work, their day is over.
They go home & that's it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful to be able to say at home & watch my wee ones grow. I, most of the time, would have it no other way. I love the fact that I am not working outside of the home solely to pay someone else to raise my children for me.
I have made great sacrifices & continue to make sacrifices so that I am able to stay at home.
Being a mother is no easy feat. I dare challenge anyone who views it to not be so.
So, instead of me whipping off a bunch of unkind name-callings & cuss words, or expressing myself by way of explicit hand gestures to all the naysayers,
my Sweet Little L & myself offer something a little more mature & oh so grown-up.
We offer you this...
Because staying at home is a walk in the park.
It's oh so glamorous.
Yet, this statement coming from a male, is really not big shocker to me.
First of all, for myself & I am sure for many other SAHM's, there are trigger words and/or statements that will, most often, make the person that said those particular words and/or statement, want to take cover because I may/may not unload on them.
"Just a Mom" happens to be "that" statement for me.
Yup, that's me, just a mom sitting in front of the "idiot box"(a little something my step-father liked to call the television...a pleasant term, isn't it?) watching soap operas & talk shows all day, all the while, letting my wee ones run rampant as if they are characters from the novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies.
I wish! Well, not really. Only sometimes, kind of.
Here's a little reality check to the ding dong(s) that have made that trigger statement to me. You know, just a small glimpse to what my day/night really is like. No two days are alike because we are a family of 5, which means, different days of the week mean different days of craziness.
Mornings usually begin anywhere between 5am & 6am by way of screaming baby. Let me add that the early wake up call is after only getting between 2-4 hours of less than blissful sleep. No joke. Always a heavenly way to awaken each morning. NOT!
Change diaper then nurse.
Two more wee ones slowly meander from their rooms & within seconds are talking, talking, talking & questioning, questioning, questioning before I am able to consume even a 1/4 cup of coffee.
(I am, by no means, a morning person. Just ask my family. I am pure evil. It's pretty ugly. I have a hard time tolerating any kind of chitty chattiness of any sort until coffee consumption.)
Then, prepare breakfast, pack lunches, get backpacks together, clean up breakfast, help with homework, argue about getting dressed for the day and brushing teeth, send older wee ones in rooms for time out because one or the other just kung foo kicked the other in the face and/or screamed out "JERK FACE"!
Hustle out the door to catch the bus then hustle back inside to possibly take a shower, get me & the babe dressed for the day, listen to babe wail because I am not lugging her about, then head out the door for appointment or ready ourselves for Baby M's physical therapy session only to have to stop, again, to change yet another poopy diaper. Yippee!
4-year old complains that she is hungry even though she just had breakfast 20 minutes ago. Get her snack then clean up the trail of crumbs that she has bestowed upon me.
More baby sing song-y wailing.
Baby is still sick,therefore feed her more good bacteria killing antibiotics & hope this medication finally works.
Vacuum & mop the floors while lugging an extra 18 pounds aka Baby M.
Put, yet another, load of laundry into the washer/dryer.
Find crafts project for 4-year old, put baby down for nap & put in another load of laundry.
Fold, fold, fold the mountainous laundry pile & possibly, put away.
Head outside with 4-year old, if it happens to be nice enough, & get a bit of much needed fresh air.
Lunch time!
Make lunch, clean up lunch. Baby now awake. Nurse baby, change baby, feed baby "real food". Oh crud!
Down to my last cloth diaper. Put diapers in wash & feel guilty about having to cover baby's bottom with disposable diaper.
Get over it and move along.
Clean up baby & head to the supermarket.
Unload groceries & wee ones.
Put away groceries.
Entertain wee ones, change another diaper, find another snack, play the nurse role, clean up & do dishes AGAIN!
Start prepping for dinner, walk down to bus stop & pick up son, empty out backpack & talk about his day at school, get him a snack.
More wailing.
Ask myself, "What the Hell was I thinking??? Motherhood blows!"
Then watch baby roll herself into sitting position & smile with accomplishment.
I then say to myself, "This is why I wanted to play the role of Mom." And clap along with baby for her major accomplishment.
Another diaper change.
Break the older kids apart, yet again.
Prepare dinner, ask older wee ones to help set the table to only have to separate once again because they are arguing about who is going to place the napkins.
End up setting table myself.
More wailing from babe. Give babe basket of food containers as entertainment so that I may finish dinner.
Daddy is home! More chaos.
Bring dinner to table, clean up the food container mess, fix plates for the wee ones. Remove myself from table for the millionth time because somebody needs something.
Finally sit down, help feed the babe, get a few bites in and try to rally for clean up.
Clean up dinner, do dishes, get an older child in shower, tidy up the babe & dress her for bed, get snacks & waters for older children & prepare for quiet time.
Bring baby to bed, nurse then head back upstairs to read books and put older children to bed.
Do some final tidying up.
Finally, get my pajamas on. It is now probably 8:30or 9pm & it feels like midnight.
Just when it is finally quiet, oh, what is that sound? Why, it's the baby wailing once again.
I'm super-excited at this point.
And, this is an easy day. Almost like having a day off. Oh wait, I don't get days off. In fact, it's rare that I get any time at all to myself.
I would love to use the bathroom by myself!
That would be a cause for celebration!!
Which is why, at times, I do envy my husband and others who are part of the work force outside of their home because for many once they clock out from work, their day is over.
They go home & that's it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful to be able to say at home & watch my wee ones grow. I, most of the time, would have it no other way. I love the fact that I am not working outside of the home solely to pay someone else to raise my children for me.
I have made great sacrifices & continue to make sacrifices so that I am able to stay at home.
Being a mother is no easy feat. I dare challenge anyone who views it to not be so.
So, instead of me whipping off a bunch of unkind name-callings & cuss words, or expressing myself by way of explicit hand gestures to all the naysayers,
my Sweet Little L & myself offer something a little more mature & oh so grown-up.
We offer you this...
Na Na Na boo boo
You're a big
Poo Poo!
I know, I know. I said no name calling.
(I possibly see a Part 2 for this posting in the future.
I'm a bit fired up now. Oh dear.)
Happy Monday!
~Amy
(I possibly see a Part 2 for this posting in the future.
I'm a bit fired up now. Oh dear.)
Happy Monday!
~Amy
