Groundhog Day

I have been in a rut lately. Every day feels like Groundhog day. I feel like I am cleaning up the same mess, folding the same clothes, dealing with the same tantrums, washing the same dishes, over and over and over…. It’s funny because I was telling my mom that and just yesterday my “American Baby” magazine came in the mail and talked about that exact issue! It said the solution was to break up the days with fun activities and outings with the kids. I have tried doing that with our Theme weeks and creating fun crafts and trips based on that. Still, I think part of it was that Jim had to work for 9 days straight without a break and we didn’t get a chance to have much family time. It’s amazing when I think of women whose husband’s are in Iraq and on top of being “Super Mom” to their kids and taking care of the bills, etc they also have to worry about their husbands returning safely! So I have no reason to feel sorry for myself. Things have gotten much better since my mom has been here. She’ll be visiting until Friday and we have a bunch of fun stuff planned. In fact, today I took Gabriel to see Madagascar and it was so funny! It was nice to have mommy/Gabe time and we need to do that more often.
The stay-at-home life has been incredible but I can see how it might not be for everyone. I feel much more responsibility since I am with the boys 24/7. In large part, it’s totally up to me to make sure they are behaving, learning, sharing, playing, eating, properly and if not, there is no one else to blame but me (and Jim)!! I can’t blame the naughty kids at day care or the lazy babysitter. Of course it sounds like a no-brainer because that’s what a parents job IS, but in many ways I think I allowed myself to surrender some responsibility when I was working. I just assumed they would pick up the right habits and learn right from wrong by way of setting a good example. Now I know that wasn’t enough. It’s the same thing with cleaning. When I was working, I would sweep and Swiffer and kitchen floor daily. From the point of view of my tired eyes and busy life, I really thought that was enough to keep it clean. Then last week I decided to scrub the floor on my hands and knees and it wasn’t until I got down there, that I really saw how filthy it had been all this time!! I had just been skimming the surface and not really getting into the cracks and corners of making sure it was spotless. Anyway, that was probably a really lame analogy but it’s all my domesticated-mind can think of right now! Lol.:) So, even though staying home is much more work than I initially expected, I also realize it’s much more important than
I anticipated also. Speaking of which, the boys are fighting AGAIN so that is my cue!! Gotta go.