They say the grass is always greener on the other side … meaning that whatever you don’t have always looks better than what you do have. I’m finding that to be truer than ever in my life lately.
Although I’m not working right now (lost my job last year), I generally consider myself to be a working mother. After all, I worked full-time until Book Boy was nearly 8, and fully expect to be working full-time again well before the year is out. Being one of two parents who work full-time is really hard. (I’ve written before about how hard weekday evenings are.) I always half-dreamed about what it would be like to be an at-home mom – I’d have lots of time to play with the kids, take them to the museum and other educational activities, put a nice meal on the table every evening, keep up with the housework, etc.
Hear that sound? That’s the sound of Tim laughing his butt off.
Because, of course, the reality of being an at-home mom is much different, especially when one of the kids is an infant.
Playing with the kids? Forget it, I spend half my life sitting on the couch nursing the baby. Same goes for that nice meal and keeping up with the housework. Taking the kids places? To be avoided during flu season, plus it’s just plain hard to take all three anywhere. Even story time at the library or a quick stop at the grocery store for milk is a big deal right now.
And boy, do I miss people. I’ve never exactly been a social butterfly, but during the week, Tim is usually the only adult I talk to. Oh, how I miss conversations with co-worker friends! Need to discuss the phrasing of a paragraph or two in the current newsletter we’re editing? Bring it on! These days, the most stimulating discussion I have during the day just might be what to make Book Girl for lunch, or what Book Boy is going to select for his daily “reading log” book.
All that said, being home with the kids is getting easier as the baby gets older and slightly more flexible. If I’m still unemployed this summer, I’m really hoping that we can have a repeat of last year’s good summer. (It wasn’t terribly exciting, but the kids and I did do some fun things, and BB was able to take swim lessons and go to day camp.)
Hmmm … maybe I can find a part-time job with all the pay and benefits of my former full-time job … (yeah right)

















