Jan 30 2007
On being a stay at home mom
It’s great to be home with my children… watching them grow up and blossom as people but there are quite a few challenges too… I always grew up thinking I could have a family and a career as well. To tell you the truth, being a stay at home mom was not my idea, it was my husband’s. Juggling career and family was definitely very hard because I did most of the house work and of course now I do all of it.
The lack of adult conversation is the main challenge. Most days, especially in winter, the only adult I really interact with is my husband… Oh, I do say hi and bye to the moms at the school bust stop but that’s about it… Since we have no family nearby, it can get so bad, I feel I have cabin fever!
The next challenge would have to be the unending housework! I do everything in the house… from cooking to cleaning the house including bathrooms, mopping and vacuuming to laundry and even taking out the garbage. Some days it just overwhelms me! With three boys, just trying to keep the family room presentable can be a challenge everyday.
Another challenge is finding some time for myself… I have very little time for myself. When I worked, at least my commute to and from work was solitary time, that I could spend thinking, praying or just listening to music. And work was my time to interact with other adults. I guess I could still have this by volunteering in church and joining some of the works there but I really don’t feel like my husband would appreciate that… at least he’s never led me to believe that it would be ok.
Another thing I miss is eating out. When I worked, I would go out with colleagues for lunch occasionally. I am much more adventurous here than my husband and I love to eat in different restaurants, be they Lebanese, Greek, Chinese, Italian, American or Indian. Now, if I do eat out, it’s always at an Indian place and the same places every time.
“I guess I could still have this by volunteering in church and joining some of the works there but I really don’t feel like my husband would appreciate that… at least he’s never led me to believe that it would be ok.”
HUH?????? If you want to go voluteer at Church then you go out and volunteer at Church. I’m sure your husband will be just fine with it as soon as he knows it makes you happy.
Hang in there!!!
Hey sis, you really need to dosomething for oyurself sometimes. May be you could start with once a week or something… can’t you get a realiable baby sitter for that? Just once a week to start, tehn you could take it from there. Volunteering in church is a very good idea.
You know they have robots for the vacuuming and mopping now, right? I used to stress waaaaay too much about the housework but since I got a Scooba I haven’t had to do any of the mopping. Just a thought. And don’t hesitate to volunteer at your church, I’m sure your husband wouldn’t mind if you were doing good work like that.