Thoughts on being a Stay at Home Mom

I am coming up on my eighth year of being a stay at home mom.
During that time, I've represented the following...
elementary, preschool and pregnant
elementary, preschool and infant
elementary, preschool and toddler
2 elementary and a toddler
2 elementary and a preschool
2 elementary and a preschool
middle school, elementary, preschool...

This year...middle school and 2 elementary.
I've reached the milestone. All three boys will be in school all day.

Seven years, and to be perfectly honest, I still don't have it down pat. There are many days that I am frazzled and feel like there is not enough hours to get it all done. I feel like every chore that needs to be done is a battle and I am on the losing side.  Then, I'll have that rare glorious day when I am put together, the house is clean, laundry is caught up on, dinner is prepared early, homework time is easy and  I am on top of the world. Ahhhh, the perfection I imagined as a stay at home mom. Of course, I am usually slapped back into reality the next day.

I know this may sound like a complaint. I guess it kind of is. Nobody, and I mean nobody, likes their job 100% of the time. On those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, stay at home moms don't even have the option to leave the negativity "at the office" You are in your work environment 24-7. And I'm not talking about being a mom. That never changes...even if you go out of the home to work, your mind and heart is with your little people all the time...no matter where you are. I am referring to physically being in your house. Now, I'm not chained in my home. Believe me, I live for my Monday morning coffee time with my friends and have errands to run just about every day. I guess, for me, it's the mentality of sleeping where I work.
I have to say, there are days when being at home is harder than any job I've ever had.  I've been a working mom. I know how hard it is. I used to get two little boys up and out of the house by 6:30am every day, breakfast and lunches packed and drove 40 minutes to my job. I still had all the typical household duties...laundry, cooking and cleaning.

Enough with the negative...I truly realize what a  blessing it is that I have been able to stay home for as long as I have. It's not easy to live on one income. All the credit goes to my husband who is amazing at keeping things balanced financially. We are a good team and I probably don't tell him enough how much I appreciate all he does. We both agreed that having a stay at home parent is the best thing for our kids. I love that I am home for them after school, there is no conflict if someone has to stay home sick or I can participate in school activities. I'm glad that I am home so dinner can be prepped and I can help during homework time at a reasonable hour. I am there to wake them up in the morning and can get them off to school with a good breakfast. And during the summer, we get to relax and enjoy some down time together.

That said, with summer winding down, our days have been a little tougher. Patience all around has been waning...with me and the kids. I'll admit, summer vacation makes my job a little harder. I love my kids dearly, I really do,  but being together all this time leads to bickering...and learning exactly what buttons to push to get someone to snap.

I may or may not have been complaining about losing my mind when my husband said my "vacation" was coming up. Um, no. Like I said earlier, we are a great team, and we are both in agreement that me being home is the best thing, but vacation...are you serious?  He said that I will have 8 hours to do as I please when they are in school. Will I have more time to get things done? Yes! Will things be easier? Yes!  Will it be a vacation? Oh, HELL, no!!  The best I can hope for is that I have that the rare glorious perfection day happens at least once a week. Dare I dream...and go for two or three times  a week? Only time will tell.