I do not like housework. I hate it actually. To tell the truth, the whole stay-at-home Mommy thing is the absolute last thing I EVER saw myself doing. My entire life I craved adventure, drama and freedom. I am the most impulsive adrenaline junkie I know. Being a stay-at-home Mommy is mind-numbing, mundane and lonely.
For the first few months after my first daughter was born I cherished my new role as Mother and Housewife. It was new and exciting, everyday she did something new and I also learned something new about taking care of a child and a home. After the first six months reality started to set in. This is it. No new projects to work on; no fellow employees to gossip with; no more feeling like I was making a difference…Just everyday, the same as the one before and the same as the one before that. Dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, reading stories and playing peek-a-boo, bedtime routine, sleep and then, REPEAT. If I was really lucky, I got to get out to grocery store for an hour!
I thought about running away to Mexico and just starting again all by myself. I thought about that a lot. Of course I would NEVER leave my sweet baby girl, but I could day dream couldn’t I? I made plan after plan of home-based businesses that could give me the simulation I craved while still allowing me to be the mother I wanted to be. I considered going back to work, but after being raised by a working mother who was always so busy and tired she had nothing left at the end of the day, I swore I would do it differently.
I decided I was going to treat being a Mommy and Housewife as my actual job. I decided to run my home like I had ran the office I worked at before and to schedule my kids activities like I had scheduled activities at the Nursing Home. My home was now my business, I was the CEO and my family were my clients. Sound silly? It is what worked for me. I decided to try to run my home as efficiently as possible and do the best job I could. I set schedules, I made lists and I started a routine. I gave myself breaks often and slowly started organizing. It is organizing that has kept me here and kept me sane. It is challenging. Every week I try to create new systems that works faster and are more efficient. My goal is to do the scheduled daily tasks as fast and effectively as possible so I can slack off the rest of the day…just like at any other job!
Do I love being a stay-at-home mom and housewife? No, but I at least like it now. I know how lucky I am to be able to be home with my girls, but I also know that my life cannot just be about them. I need more. The great thing is that I can create more for myself right here in my home, while still being with them. I can work hard to get my chores and play time with them done so I can do some Mommy things, like blog and craft and ORGANIZE! I can schedule my time to include my kids, my home and myself so I never have to feel guilty about being a bad mother or angry for losing sight of me.
Feel like your lost in your own home? Change your thought process! Make a daily schedule of all the things you want to accomplish each day and challenge yourself to do them as fast and as well as possible. Invent new systems and new techniques. Discover tips to make your day easier and better. Consider even sharing your tips with the world!