In early August, I was immersed in complete motherhood for two weeks. This was a different time than when I was on maternity leave in the past. And it wasn’t a vacation. We didn’t go anywhere other than my parent’s farm and one night for my husband and me to a wedding reception. The time was simply down time with my family without a schedule.
For some reason with my kids being older now, ages 2, 3 1/2 and 13, I thought I was going to get every single closet cleaned out, all trees and flower beds weeded, all decorating and household projects complete plus bake and cook new recipes. My young girls would play sweetly beside me and help. In between those activities, I was going to take the kids to the park daily, have daily project/ craft time, bake with them and take them to the community swimming pool each afternoon after naps. The house was going to be neat and tidy before my return to work today. I was going to find my inner modern-day June Cleaver.
If crossing off my “to-do” list is a measurement of how I did during my SAHM time, I just did worse than my first college algebra exam which led me to calling my dad in tears and him telling me to find a major that didn’t require any math classes. Truthfully, I failed only because I set the bar way too high. It wasn’t achievable. I think a lot of moms do that to themselves and I am no exception.
After two weeks of being a SAHM, I went back to work in mid-August. My time was up. Actually it was because my home daycare provider’s vacation was complete.
What did I learn from two weeks of being a SAHM? Letting go. Focusing on a few things and not beating myself up about everything else.
5 ways to let go and relish in being who are, where you are with what you have today
1. Leave the clean clothes in the dryer and go to bed. Or stack them up on the recliner.
2. Turn off your computer.
3. Turn off the television
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