I faked It

I faked it for one day.

I acted like I do it all the time.

I let people think that it was common place for me.

Only my friends knew.

I didn't even tell the kids until we got there. Surprise!

I was completely exhausted, but it was worth every single minute.

Shhhhhh.....

I had a "mental health day": took a day off from work and acted like I was a stay at home mommy.  I piled the kids in the car, the sit and stand stroller, two coolers filled with lunch, snacks and drinks and we took off for the zoo.

We met our friends there.  7 kids and 4 adults.  4 kids under 3. :-)  Two wagons and three strollers did not stop these crazy women (oh and Danny....my friends husband).  Susan was pushing a stroller and pulling a wagon at the same time.  Then Andrea was pulling two wagons with five kids at one point because my daughter was NOT about to be excluded!  Those are some strong women!

We saw animals.  Played.  Ate lunch.  Enjoyed the fabulously wonderful weather! The kids got along. The parents laughed at the kids having fun.  We snapped a few pictures.  Ending with the obligatory carousel ride.

Reese fell asleep on the way home, veggie straws still in hand.  Ethan consulted his map (from the zoo) and directed me home. We almost ran into the giraffes a few times :-).  We grabbed some Culver's and ate out in our driveway as Reese continued her snooze-fest.

Then Mommy got to take Ethan to his first gymnastics class.  I looked on proudly through the windows as he tumbled, jumped and hung upside down.

AHHHHHHHH  ........Perfect day for my pseudo "SAHM mental health day". 

I think I might just have to make this a habit......until my PTO days run out. :-)

True Ramblings of a Working Mom.....

First before I start in on my ramblings, I want to get something out of the way.

I love my job.  I love being able to help people as a social worker and after 16 years I know for sure that this is what God wants me to be doing.

With that said, as a mother of two I sure wish that I could have a different schedule.  I long for the day when I can work part-time and spend more quality time with my kids instead of trying to cram that time with them into the late evenings, early mornings and weekends amongst the mundane chores of running the household, cooking meals, doing laundry and grocery shopping.

But that's just not an option right now.  Jimm and I knew when we got married that I would have to work full time until his business started to grow.  He has finally found the right combination of business partners and business industry that has enabled his company to become what is it today.  But he's still not making enough for me to quit my job or to work part-time.  All in due time.

We also made the choice to upgrade into a new home instead of staying where we were at.  There are several different reasons for this, which I don't necessarily feel obligated to mention, but I'm sure some people wonder why I'm complaining about my work schedule and lack of money to allow me to work part-time: we CHOSE to put a house first.  We wanted to give our kids a yard, their own rooms and a good school system.  And we are so glad we did.

We make our hectic schedules work.  Jimm leaves the house at 6:30am and doesn't return until 5pm.  I leave the house either at 8am or 10/11am depending on appointments that I have scheduled at work and then I don't return to the house until 6pm or sometimes as late as 9/9:30pm.  I have the morning routine with the kids and am MOST of the time home with them for bedtimes as well. 

Why am I writing about all of this?

Because summers are VERY hard for me.  I have several friends that are teachers and although I usually relate to them as full time-working mama's they DO get their summers off. 

And so many times I feel very alone in the summer time.  I see invitations to parks, picnics, pool parties, the beach, playdates, the zoo.....all during the week when I sit behind my desk looking out at the sun but never getting to enjoy it.

I am SO grateful that I have the job I do and that Jimm and I are employed.  Please don't get me wrong.  I am just venting about my feelings.  How I feel *jealous* when so many other moms get to play with their kiddos outside, doing the fun things that I long to do with my kids. 

And then I also feel guilty.  Guilty because my kids don't always get to play with their friends or go places with their friends because mommy is stuck at work.  I can't ask my mom and our sitter to trek my kids all over creation.....  and so we wait until the weekend to do fun stuff.

Last summer my group of friends tried very hard to include me in whatever plans they were making even if they knew that I might not be able to make it or get the day off.  And I definitely appreciated that.  I realize that plans are sometime last minute and not something that is scheduled way ahead of time. 

With that said....a shout out to all of my SAHM friends.....one of the nicest things you can do for us working moms is to just extend an invitation so that we feel included.  Even if we know it's impossible for us to attend a playdate or event...it's just nice to get that invite.  It makes us feel like you remember that we too have kids the same age as your kids and that you are thinking about us.

One of the things I told my friends last summer is that I get 4 weeks of vacation plus sick time.  I am in a supervisory role....so sometimes I CAN take a day off during the week to go to the zoo or the splash park with the kids.  If I know ahead of time.  Or if it's on a Friday and I only have to take a 1/2 day off since we now have summer hours again! WOOHOO!!!!

I love my job.  I wish I worked part-time.  I love and adore my kids & wish I could spend more time with them. 

Ramblings.... of a working mom.