Skip to main content

Hybrid Mom

Goody, goody, goody. My summer vacation started today. This is the most wonderful day of the year. I am not a teacher and I get 8 weeks off during the only months of the year that there is a hope for warm weather in UpState. Plus, I get to spend 24/7 with my little princesses. My job allows me to be a working professional and a stay-at-home mom. Thank you, tight budgets! This means that I really can say "I understand" when I talk to a working mom and a SAHM.

When a mom says to me, "I always feel like the worst mom ever when I can never volunteer to chaperone field trips!" I respond, "I hear ya!". When a mom says to me, "Nothing is worse than leaving an important work meeting because your kid puked at daycare." I respond, "I hear ya!" When a mom says, "AH! The days are so long with the kids that I feel relieved when they go to bed!" I shout, "I hear ya!" When a mom says, "I want to smack the hubster when he comes home and asks me why the laundry wasn't done." I respond, "What? Who cares?" Anyway, you get my point...

Because I am more or less furloughed from my job, it is a bit difficult to transition to SAHM status. Many of my colleagues, including my boss and a few others in my department, are still working this summer. It's not like I can tie up everything into a neat little package, close the door, and know that nothing will happen between yesterday and 8 weeks from yesterday. Emails will pile up and projects will not get done and, in August, I'll walk back into something that was in motion while I have been at a professional standstill.

The same goes for the sudden switch to being a full-time mommy. During the academic year, I'm so focused on work,that my focus on the girls, sadly, falls to the periphery. I get used to going to the bathroom by myself, eating without being asked to get refills and seconds, and sitting without being confused for a jungle gym. I can tolerate tantrums and whining more because I missed them so much all day. Feeling the girls' arms around me makes up for their having just thrown a box of Pops in my bed. Such is not the case when we spend every moment together, including all meals, showers, and potty trips.Just like work, the girls are in constant motion and I have no choice but to step up to their needs and demands, whether it is from 5:30-7:30 am and then from 6-8pm, or all day,and sometimes-all night.

I love to set goals. I'm such a goal-setter. It gets me excited. People think I am making this stuff up, but I'm actually very serious about it. I have ambition, I really do. Even if my goals are lame-o, they are still my goals and it means a lot to me, and only me, if I achieve (any of) them. As you know, I set goals each New Year and then in June, when I realize I haven't accomplished any, I make new ones. This year, I'm not even going to look back to January. I'm going to set a few goals for the summer ahead. Here we go!

1. Cook and bake delicious, dairy and soy-free food;

2. Read a thought provoking, mentally stimulating book while at the lake;

3. Run 20-30 miles each week while also developing abs.

4. Rekindle with the hubster via date nights and meaningful conversation.

Aw shucks, you know I'm kidding right! I'm so b-s'ing you! You are so gullible!

I'll clue you in to the real goals:

1. Pray I don't accidentally feed my kid dairy or soy so that I'm not stuck cleaning her puke and soupy poop off the floor at 2 am, or in a public place, or really anywhere, ever.

2. Read a book. Preferably not the last in the 50 Shades Trilogy, because that will just depress me.

3. Run- hopefully not away from my kids or toward the wine store.Accept that I'll never have defined abs if I keep eating chips and ice cream, especially together, and particularly after I've had a glass of wine, fallen asleep, and woken up 2 hours later to raid the kitchen.

4. Not super freak at the hubster after I have been with the kids ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT and he comes home from work and his baseball game (let's say it's the 3rd one of the week) at 9:30, cracks open a beer and leaves a beer bottle ring on the table I somehow managed to dust that day between screams, tantrums, cats yacking, laundry, and 8 episodes of My Little Pony.

Ah, summer. I can't wait. I really can't. This is the best day of the year. I'm a hybrid mom and I wouldn't want it any other way. That's not true. I could use a live-in nanny. And then, I wouldn't want it ANY other way!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Facebook Reality Check

I am a big facebook user. No, I don't play Farmville or Candy Crush Saga but I spend at least 15 minutes on the site daily. I have read many articles about how facebook kills one's self esteem because people use the site to boast and brag about their awesome lives, which in turn makes others feel badly about their own. We all know that facebook is a slice of one's life or maybe a projection of the life they want to live. Anybody who isn't a fool should realize that. As a frequent facebooker and hardcore extrovert, with a lack of a strong filter, I find this whole situation to be a dilemma. What is worse, reading about someone's awesome day and seeing a picture of how fabulous they looked during their awesome day, or reading about their terrible day, looking at angry political memes, or rants about the bad customer service they received? Do you want to read about how someone had the best night ever with their bestest buds (you not included) or that they have been ...
1 comment
Read more

TomKat or AndMel?

Over the weekend I had "my hour". Sixty whole minutes at the gym including 30 on the new treadmill and the latest In Style magazine to read while I sweat it out to my itunes. I happily flipped and thumped along, checking out the latest hand bags and arm cuffs until I got to an article about Katie Holmes. I had to flip back and forth several times to admire one of my favorite Hollywood pieces of eye candy. How can she and I have children almost the same age and she can look like that and have run a marathon this year? No matter what we all tell ourselves about celebs, we still envy them or just can't help but stare at their image in a magazine and read all about how they've found themselves via religion, rehab or marriage to Tom Cruise. My favorite part of the article was Katie recalling Suri's birth story. She says something about how supportive Tom was by placing candles and picture frames around the room. That's helpful? If Andy was lighting candles during ...
Post a Comment
Read more

LAX

Some people may think that Andy and I are "lax" parents. Our house isn't a free range farm by any means, although just throwing food on the ground, and letting the kids wander around and pick it up when they are hungry, sounds pretty enticing. It's true that we aren't the strictest parents and that, regularly, there is mutiny on the bounty and we are held hostage by little pirate people. The drill sergeant in our house is 3 feet tall and belts outs commands like, "Get me a drink!", "Turn on Netflix!", or "You will not wash my hair!" while wearing only a pullup, squinting her eyes, and pointing an accusatory finger in our direction. Our kids are often in charge. I'm not going to lie to you. The dog may also be in charge from time to time. That's just the way it goes. As more and more of our peers have a third child, we are, unfortunately, asked if we, too, plan to expand. Are these people insane in the membrane? Have they been...
2 comments
Read more