Before I was a mom I had a total different view point on stay at home moms. I thought they were living the life - sleeping in, plenty of time to get house work done, going on lunch dates with other moms, exercising whenever they wanted, all while spending time with their little ones. Now that I am a mom I realize just how narrow minded my thinking was. I am lucky if I get the laundry folded, lunch in my stomach, and dinner on the table all in one day. 

I’m not sure why I always thought being a stay at home mom would be so easy. Maybe because I was a teacher and I thought if I could take care of, and teach, 18 first graders all day, then I could definitely take care of one baby. The taking care of part is easy (yes, it can be exhausting - physically and mentally) but it’s accomplishing other jobs that I haven’t quite found the balance. If you follow my blog or Instagram, then you know Olivia is not a good napper. I’ve tried everything and have gotten advice from everyone - but nothing changes. So if you have napping advice that no one has ever heard and works miracles.... send it my way. But, since she isn’t a good napper, I feel like I spend half of my day trying to get her to sleep and then keep her asleep. The other half of my day I want to spend time with her. So it truly is a struggle to manage mom time and all the other chores that I feel like I should be doing.

Some days, a miracle happens and all of my “chores” get done - the floor gets mopped, laundry is clean (and folded), and dinner is made. But other days... more often than not... the laundry stays in the hamper until my husband helps me fold it and I’m scrambling to get dinner made. These days I always feel awful that my husband, Eric, has to come home from his 10-12 hour work day and then help me. But I had a good friend, a fellow momma point out, that although I may not be physically going to work, being a mom is a full time job. And ever since she has pointed that out to me - I feel so much better when I don’t accomplish all those other tasks.

Eric and I work as a team, we always have. But even more so now. This teamwork helps us run smoothly. If I didn’t have him as my partner in crime and the best teammate I could ask for, Olivia and I would be drowning in dirty laundry and living on Chick-Fil-A.... not that I think about it, the latter might not be a bad thing. 

Without teamwork and the guidance from other mom’s I’m not sure where I’d be. Probably struggling to be that perfect stay at home mom. Now I see my perception was wrong. But I couldn’t be happier of what my job as a stay at home mom has turned into.

I may not get to eat out on all these lunch dates, because if so, I’d be poor. But instead I get to eat the lunches I've meal prepped and have lunch dates with my little girl. I may not have a perfectly clean house, but instead that means I’m living in the moment. And I may not exercise everyday but instead I’m playing outdoors with my little girl. So yes there are some trade offs, and this job of being a mom to one baby may be more exhausting that teaching 18 little ones, but I wouldn’t trade this job for the world.