December 15, 2005 - Staying at home is work also!

For those of you that believe that being a stay at home mom is a picnic, think again. Sure there are some mothers out there that sit glued to the computer all day, or sit on the couch and watch soaps or what-not. But then there are the rest of us, who despite the lack of respect and appreciation work our butts off day to day on minor things that more than likely go un-noticed. For example, today it took me 1 1/2 hours to make 2 phone calls. 1 to my credit card company about fraudulent charges on my account....that call alone took an hour. The other call was to dispute a billing error with the bug spray company. I also finished up my Christmas cards, pumped gas, drove my daughter to and from school, attempted to find someone to clear the brush on our land, get info on appraisals for carpet and tile, call around for new insurance, balance the checkbook, and start dinner. And while the evening is not over yet, I still plan to fold and do laundry, dishes, finish helping my daughter with her holiday cards, shower, pull out clothes for tomorrow, and pay some bills. For someone who is a SAHM I feel more stressed, worn out, and pre-occupied than I did when I worked. Most of the things I do go un-noticed because I wasn't able to get to some big project like wrapping the presents, but still nonetheless I worked hard today and accomplished as much as I could. My job is no 9 to 5 job either. It starts when my daughter wakes me up between 8:00 and 8:30 and doesn't end until it's time for bed. ALL day long I feel like I am making food or getting snacks for my child or helping her with her school work because I want her to have a better life. Do I get to sit around and do the things I love like scrapping? No, I have an album I am 6 pages away from finishing for a gift, yet I've had no time to get to it, let alone half my parents mail. For those of you that take your kids to daycare everyday, imagine what it is like to hear mom, mom, mom, 50 million times a day and have to help out and answer each time. Do you really know what it takes or what is involved in raising a kid and spening EVERY second of EVERY day with them? I'm lucky if I get to pee by myself! I just don't have enough hours in the day to do all the things I would like. And while Natalie does go to school, the 2 hours and 45 minutes that she is there is each day leaves me little time to accomplish much more than a project or two at home or a trip to town to shop or get groceries. Especially when you break down that 2 hours and 45 minutes, because of that I have to spend 30 - 45 minutes on the road to come home or go to town and go back to pick her up.
So to all you SAHM who work just as hard as I do or more everyday, SALUTE! And for the rest of you that think all we do all day is slack off I say F you!