Friday, September 3, 2010

Full Time Stay at Home Mom

Three months after Emma was born I went back to work two days a week and John was home with Emma the days that I worked. We both loved sharing the role of the daily parenting and though I thought I would hate being away at work, knowing Emma got to spend good time with daddy made it easy to go back part time. We knew that there would be a time that John's work schedule would change and it would become difficult to continue this lifestyle. When we decided to each work and each be home we didn't want it to become we each worked full time but worked around crazy schedules to make it work. We wanted it to be we both worked part time and were home part time. Last year was crazy for John being in school, working as a professor and being home two days a week with the kids. It was just too much. I had always wanted to be home full time but when the opportunity arose for me to work part time and John be home part time I was happy to keep working. So, we decided that life is too short and had gotten too busy and me staying home would allow us to slow down.

Last Monday was my last day of work. I would say that it was bitter sweet. I have been looking forward to staying home full time since Emma was born and I don't know that it has really sunk in that I am officially done with work. As I move from working part time to being home full time here are some things I will miss about working:
  • My friends at work. I had worked at SMC for 5 years and grown many friendships that I will miss dearly. Not that I won't be able to stop by but seeing people on a consistent basis is just different.
  • My ability to control my environment for two days a week. I had a desk and office space that was all mine. I did CPA work so it was mostly quiet and I was able to manage myself. Being home with a 3 and 1 year old is anything but quiet and I would love to think I control my home environment but....well I think Emma is really in charge at this point.
  • On the days that I worked the kids were home with dad. I will really miss coming home to things like this........
I opened the door to come inside the house on my last day of work and heard whispers and giggles coming from the bedroom....Emma shut the door and emerged a few minutes later dressed as a princess....
And then my sweet son came running out in Emma's old Halloween costume.....ha ha I wondered how long it would take for Emma to want Johnny to dress up as something. I am glad his first costume was so manly....

  • Most of all, we will miss co-parenting. We both love how much we have been able to share the role of the day to day parenting over the past three years. Now with me home full time, John is not going to be around as much for the day to day stuff that the kids do. Luckily his schedule as a professor will always allow him to be around more than most. We are very thankful for this time and hope that it has established good habits for us as parents.
We are so excited to slow down and enjoy life this year. We have already been able to spend so much more time as a family. I love it!! So far, so good!!

3 comments:

Bonnie Nieuwstraten said...

Oh, good for you! Now that I have a 10 year old, I can really say, "You will NEVER regret those moments with your children! It's worth all the messes and craziness!"
You guys all look so happy - I'm really happy for you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Iam Prabhu from chennai,joined today in this forum... :)

Ella Pichardo said...

that makes 2 of us now :D i love this blog :D