The Playdate Crashers

Wow. My last day as a SAHM got off to quite the rocky start today.

Sunsets. Because you can’t wax poetic on a blog without a photo of a sunset.

Most of you are aware that in February, I began working part-time at a local Christian school as, for lack of a better term, a lunch lady. No, I don’t wear a hairnet. No, I don’t slop mashed potatoes onto a tray. I’m more of a coordinator, making sure the right kids get the right boxed lunches.

Annnnyyyywayyyy, an opportunity came up for a fantastic full-time position at the school. My kids will be able to go there at an amazing discount, they can come to work with me during the summer and attend the school’s fun summer programming free of charge, and I just simply love this school and the people who work there. While right now my official title is Administrative Assistant, my primary responsibilities will be public relations for the school, managing our website and social media presence, and doing outreach for new students. Dream job? Yeah, you could say that.

My mom has always said that next in line after being a stay at home parent, working at the same school as your kids is the best possible scenario for a mom. We’re about to find out! I’ll have more information and updates about how it’s going in the weeks to come. We’ll have a short period of transition while Miles finishes his year at his preschool and Spencer goes to daycare for the first time ever. After those six weeks, we’ll be going to school together every day.

Naturally, I wanted my final day as a SAHM (part-time as it may be) to be magical. I pictured morning cuddles before happily eating a big healthy breakfast and praying together in the foyer as we do every day before my husband takes Miles to school.

Instead, I had a crying preschooler in the shower (it’s spring picture day!), a crying 3-year-old because he hurt his leg/toe/elbow? I’m not sure? while dealing with the shower situation. Meanwhile, my husband was sifting through the trash because we can’t find a check that we received last week and because it’s trash day, he had to make sure it wasn’t in the trash bags being sent to the dump today. *sigh* But I suppose it wouldn’t be realistic if it were a magical, perfect day. It hasn’t always been wonderful, staying home with my kids. Many days, we had blissful days of playing, learning, and relaxation. Other days, more frequent than I’d like to admit, I was irritated, distracted, and had one eye on the clock, waiting for relief to come home in the form of my husband.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to stay home with my precious boys. I know there are many moms who desperately want to stay home full-time with their kids. I enjoyed myself most of the time. Like everything else I’ve experienced so far in parenting, it works until it doesn’t. My plans to co-sleep worked until they didn’t anymore. My plans to do preschool at home with my boys worked until it didn’t. There’s no shame in realizing that it doesn’t work anymore. I have great admiration for moms who work outside of the home and great admiration for moms who stay at home with their kids. It doesn’t have to be a competition over who can love their situation more or who can endure something they don’t love just for the sake of maintaining what they set out to do.

A lot of blabbering just to get to this:  Moms, do what’s best for your family. Don’t worry about what you said on Facebook when your baby was a newborn — You don’t have to stay at home if you can better serve your family by bringing home a paycheck. Don’t go back to work if your family wants and needs you more at home. Family is about sacrificing and sometimes that can mean going back to work or staying at home. It’s your decision to make, and these aren’t decisions you are making forever. You can always change your mind if your feelings or situation changes. Don’t waste your life worrying about what people will say or how it will look to others.

I realize this isn’t a profound post or anything you haven’t heard before. I just have a feeling that someone needed to hear that today. If that’s you, rest easy and shed yourself of some Mommy Guilt!

A little State of the Blog address, for you long-time readers:  I’m not sure what taking a full-time job is going to mean for the blog’s future. I continue to get many product pitches and sponsored post offers daily and many of them are things I want to share with you. I’ll be perfectly honest…There have been times when the small amount of money that I make from sponsored posts has gone to pay for our groceries that week. So while you may not find them to be the most compelling of posts, they have helped me tremendously and haven’t taken over the content on here.

I also do have things on my heart that I want to bring to you, things about parenting and life and funny nonsensical things. I’ll continue to do that, just be aware that I might sometimes go days without posting. Don’t worry, I’ll be back. Luckily for you, there are thousands of fantastic blogs out there where you can get similar writing. Just don’t give up on me, please!

Lots of love and playdate crashin’,

Krista