Ever since my oldest was born over 6 years ago, I found myself trying to prove to others that my days are busy. I may not have a regular job, but being a stay-at-home mother is a job too. People who think this life is a piece of cake seriously needs to spend a day in one of our shoes. Better yet, try to do what we do all by yourself.
Here’s an example of what us stay-at-home moms go through:
1. You never wake up on your own. For some reason, babies and kids wake up super early and their energy level goes from zero to ten in seconds. Just the other morning, my 6 year old kept waking me up telling me the time. “Mommy, it’s 7:05. Mommy, it’s 7:30. Mommy, it’s 7:45.” Eventually, you give up and get out of bed.
2. The kids never know what they want to eat. Breakfast and lunch is always a struggle. Even the baby decides she doesn’t want the jar of bananas and strawberries even though she ate it yesterday. My 6 year old is famous for asking me to cook her something, then when it’s sitting in front of her, she doesn’t want it anymore. Drives me crazy.
3. House chores are never ending. You find yourself cleaning the same area at least ten times a day. Nothing stays clean for a whole day. You can’t clean the house without someone bothering you or someone crying. I find myself rushing so I can be done before the baby starts crying, and she crawls now, so she crawls after me while crying. It’s not nice.
4. Cartoons are on the television all day. In our house, nick jr. is on all day until my husband comes home and changes the channel. I choose not to hear my daughter whine about why she can’t watch Team Umizoomi, so I leave it on that channel. I know most of the theme songs to the shows, and I even have favorite cartoons and shows that I don’t mind watching.
5. Mommy breakdowns. Enough said. If I’m lucky I’ll have just one during the week. You can hold on to your sanity for only so long. Last week, my baby was so clingy to me. She cried the second I put her down. All I heard was crying while I did things around the house. Then add on my 6 year old complaining about everything, and crying because she feels sorry for her baby sister. I remember thinking, “You feel sorry for her?!!” I lost it and started crying. Yup, and I was just making all 3 of us lunch.
6. Everyone comes first. No matter how exhausted you are you never stop thinking of the kids. My baby is super clingy so I’m pretty much the only person that watches her; I really don’t have time to myself. No matter how drained I am, physically and mentally, I always make sure my kids and husband are happy. Even when I just mention that I should get a few hours to myself I feel guilty.
7. Your bedtime is the kids’ bedtime. Alright some mothers clean and what not, but I clean before, so I can go straight to bed. Since my husband has work in the morning he goes to bed earlier than we do, so I’m usually cleaning by myself. Since it’s summertime now, I had to put both kids to bed. My 6 year old fell asleep next to me while I was breastfeeding. I had to practically drag her to her room. Then I had to pat the baby’s back like 50 times before she finally was in a deep sleep.
8. You have a million “to-do’s” in your mind while in bed. You go to bed at a certain time but you don’t fall asleep until two hours later. Worrying about the kids, doctor appointments, laundry, grocery shopping, what to make for dinner, if you’ll have time to exercise, the dishes you forgot to wash before bed, getting angry because you know your husband won’t do it in the morning, figuring out activities for your oldest to do so she’s not bored, and hoping for no mommy breakdowns. You finally drift asleep two hours later.
Then your kid alarm clock wakes you and you do it all over again. 7 days a week. If you’re lucky, you get about 3-4 hours a week to yourself. You complain to your girlfriends and the other moms of how you’re tired and how you don’t feel appreciated. Then your baby makes you smile and you know it’s all worth it.
Kiana From Hawaii 