Working Moms

I find that lots of my friends are stay at home moms. I respect that decision and realize that we live in a materialistic age where the sacrifices to stay home are sometimes not possible.

I attended a religious private college and had a large amount of student loans when I graduated. I always said "I didn't go to school for 4 years and owe this much money just to stay home". However, when I found out I was pregnant it was a really difficult thing to leave him and return to work. I found that there were a lot of days when I wished I could stay home.

But then there were those days.....

You know what I mean. My son is about to turn 4 years old. He is quite the handful. The daycare girl told me that he had the best imagination she has seen in a child his age. He collects rocks in the playground and says they are cellphones, spy gadgets, or a compass. He is very creative.

However, when he disappears for a while and there are no noises....nothing good can come from that. The other day he asked for help. I asked what he needed and he replied that he needed his bedroom light turned on. I told him to flip the lightswitch (which he has done a thousand times). He said it wouldn't work. So I went to his room and very matter-of-factly said "like this"....and nothing happened. That was when I realized that he had found a way to stand on the top bunk of his bed and pull the cord on the ceiling fan. I about lost it.

At first I was so scared and thankful that he wasn't hurt. I was home alone with both boys and wouldn't have enjoyed a rushed trip to the local emergency room. Then slowly I realized that I was angry. There were strict rules for sleeping on the top bunk. But how do you enforce that with a 3 year old? Ugh. This was going to be harder than I originally thought. Do I really ask my husband to take the bed apart? Where would we store it? The whole reason we got bunk beds was because it takes up less space. Mothers everywhere are shaking their heads while reading this and saying "I could have told you that"....and they would be right.

The other day he told me that he needed help. He had flushed a whole roll of toilet paper. Luckily the first group clogged the toilet so it was just a matter of fishing it all out. I spanked him and told him under no circumstances does he put stuff in the toilet. He said "Mommy, toilet paper goes in the toilet". I know...I know. He is right. Sort of, not that much toilet paper.

I should have known after the first roll to keep an eye on him. I had removed the roll of paper from the bathroom. However, unknown to me, my husband realizing the lack of toilet paper took in a replacement roll. So I shouldn't have been shocked when I hear a toilet flush and the words "Mommy. I need you" came across the house. Now who do you blame? Sam for flushing another roll? My husband for putting a second roll in the bathroom? Or me for not telling my husband not to replace the roll.

Oh, well. These are just some of the fun things at my house. So if you come to visit and there are no lights on and no toilet paper, it is not that we don't want you to visit. We are just too busy to keep up with it all.

Samuel's 4th birthday

As a working mom, I barely have enough time to get my chores done and no time to re-do tasks. I am constantly running a list of honey-do's for my husband. He tries to keep up, but the neverending list is tiresome. We have two boys, Samuel and Ethan. Ethan is 7 months old and Samuel will be 4 on January 2nd, much to my dismay.

When Sam was a baby, we had an agreement that he would stay small and cuddly. He hasn't kept that bargain. He seems to be growing up even faster. He is forever surprising me. He doesn't like the word "no" (but he gets that honestly).

Sam has a January birthday. For those whose children have separation between Christmas toys and birthday, you are blessed and don't know it. This was the first year that Sam started to understand Santa and gifts. Every bag was for him and then when he realized it wasn't....he was devastated.

Of course with his birthday right after Christmas, it is even harder because he keeps getting gifts for 2 weeks....then none. The biggest gift this year was a Batman cave and helicopter from his Nana. He jumped up and down with fists in the air yelling, "I love it! I love it!" (Nana was quite pleased with herself for the purchase, too).

Now that Christmas is over and birthday planning begins, there are new controversies. Last year the cake had a toy on it. So this year Sam said he wants a Batman, Spiderman, monster truck, Hot Wheel and Transformers cake. I told him that cakes don't always have toys. This one has a drawing of Spiderman on it. He said, "Mommy, you are silly. We draw on paper, not on cakes."

As his birthday approaches, I have to remember that holidays and birthdays are only stressful if I try to make everything perfect. I think of everything as a scrapbook moment. Sometimes you just have to jump in and let life be fun. Just a thought...