Whatever I do, I want to do it well. Maybe that's why I never really made it as a stay-at-home mom.
It is a high calling, an art, even. I am in awe when I see an expert. I used to have an across-the-street neighbor who had 4 children of her own and did in-home daycare at her house. Granted her 3 sons were older kids when I came into the picture, but she could still take 4 children under the age of 4 to the mall - CALMLY!! Her house was always presentable and the kitchen always clean, floor mopped. She cooked and baked from scratch, even made her own noodles for pete's sake! She even had pretty, well-kept flowerbeds.
I've thought of her often lately as I've been venturing back into the child-care world with a four month old. It's wearing me out! I use it as my excuse for why my lawn needs mowing, my laundry needs putting away, and my house is an explosion of stuff covering every horizontal surface. But truth be told it was that way before Brandon came along. It's just more so now. Just how do other women (and men) do this?
I think it has a lot to do with how much one values the role of homemaker and thus how much effort one is willing to invest. I'll do my post-feminist commentary on this later. The native (Brandon) is restless and I think I've exhausted my supply of personal time for the day. At least the dishes are caught up and the chocolate chip cookie bars are in the oven.
Ta-ta for now!!
Because my mother stayed at home, I could read Richard Scarry books and find places on a globe by longitude and latitude at the age of four. If you count that as a good thing, you can list that as an additional benefit of stay-at-home motherhood.
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