Friday, April 29, 2011

Being a stay at home mom...

Being a stay at home mom makes some people think you have EXTRA time on your hands when in fact it's the exact opposite. I get comments like I know you have time to call me and talk on the phone because your home all day. Well lets see...even if I was infact home all day this is how my day goes:
7:45am -MacKenzie wakes up...(sometimes screaming because shes hungry)
7:45-8am - MacKenzie eats (guess who makes her breakfast? yes that is right this stay at home mom who has so much time to make phone calls all day long)

8:30- We clean up from breakfast (do dishes, clean MacKenzie's face & hands, clean high chair and floor- this takes maybe 30 minutes sometimes) - during those 30 minutes MacKenzie does free play but mostly lately she's clingy and pulls on my leg while I clean...(do I want to talk on the phone during all of this "NO!"
9:00-Circle Time - Do we have to do this? No but sometime of the day we need to have quality time together and circle time is one way we do that (I focus on MacKenzie and we talk about things and explore activities from her lesson plans) - Would I talk on the phone during this time -OBVIOUSLY NOT!
9:20 - Outside Play - Well now I could talk on the phone during this time but I don't want to be one of those moms who talks on the phone the entire time their kids play outside, yes that's right I actually enjoy watching her play and playing with her and I don't want her to get hurt because I'm not paying attention either.
10:00am - This is snack time - I prepare MacKenzie a snack now if we are home I normally cut her up a fresh piece of fruit and then she takes about 15-20 minutes to eat it then we do the clean up process.
10:30am- During this time we do Table Activities or Art (I have to guide her during these activities so not a great time for a phone convo.)
11:30- Stories and songs with MacKenzie
11:45am-Time to make MacKenzie's lunch and mine too...
12:00-12:15 - Time for Lunch
12:15-12:30- Clean up from Lunch, then after she goes down for nap the rest of clean up takes place...
12:30- Nap time for MacKenzie (if she goes down on time, and then I clean up a little and if I have time left I may actually get some rest for myself or time to work on a project I need to work on- Could I make a phone call during this time? Yes, of course! Do I always want to? NO! I have less than 2 hours a day to myself whether it be to rest, watch tv, read a book, do laundry it's MY TIME! I'm lucky to even get it some days!
2:30 - Snack Time
3:00 - Outside Play
4:00- Music & Movement Time for MacKenzie

Okay now when it's 4pm here it's already 10pm on the East Coast so I do not need to explain the rest of my day...once it comes to a close there isn't time to make phone calls to family and friends since their days are over.
This post isn't about me not wanting to talk to family or friends but it's about the comments I've received from people. I will call when I have time I WANT TO SPARE but often I don't. I enjoy getting phone calls periodically from friends and family to catch up and shoot the breeze but I don't enjoy getting tons of RUDE messages about me not answering the phone again... I wonder how many stay at home moms experience stuff like this.

 So from all that I posted here Do you think I have time to talk for over an hour every other day to anyone? Nope, sure don't...now skype is a different story, that is much easier to use with a toddler running around...I can actually have her involved in the conversation and she loves it too! She gets to talk to her grandparents that way all the time and we love it!
Briefly this is the rest of Kenzie's day:
4:30 Storytime/floor activities/table toys-art

5:30 Free Play

6:00 Dinner
6:30 Bath
6:45 Free Play
7:30 Story Time/ Cuddle time with Mommy and Daddy
8:00 Bedtime
 From 8pm-10pm I catch up on chores, relax if I can, and I blog sometimes...oh and I go to bed early if MacKenzie has been sick and may be waking up during the night etc. (this isn't a rare thing...)

I know for some of you reading this you must be thinking wow she's upset at someone but after months and months of staying home with your child and hearing stuff like this it just starts to make you a little more than irritated! 

3 comments:

  1. I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND! Plus when our husbands are on deployment the stress is added. We perfer Skype also its more a family event and more fun then a boring ol phone.

    Also, you make bows for a business also. A lot of us have home business. I only call customers when Dustin is home so he can focus on the kids and I can give customers my full attention.

    I just love how people assume that we have all the time in the world. If that was true I probably wouldnt drink cups and cups of coffee a day to keep my sanity.

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  2. You are SO right girl! There is ALWAYS something that needs to be done. Wether it's cleaning, cooking, spending time with kids or running errands. And finding some time for yourself in-between is pretty rare so I don't think talking on the phone would be at the top of my relaxation time list either, lol!!!

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  3. I'll never forget when I was gone for a week and James had to take care of Isla by himself he said it was so hard and he rather go to work anyday of the week then be a stay at home Dad. Being a stay at home Mom is hard work and people don't realize how hands-on being a Mom really is. If you take your attention off of them for 2 seconds they could hurt themselves by climbing on something or start choking on something. Well said blog post.

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