Hello! I am a recent (if you count 8 months as recent!) stay-at-home mom! I left the wonderful world of finance <<insert sarcasm>> after having my daughter Penny, almost 3, and son Grady, who recently turned 1. It was a HARD adjustment returning to work after both pregnancies, and it has been equally as hard to adjust to staying home with them. I also started a home-based business in April to stay connected to women, thinking I would want/need some kind of adult interaction and a little fun transitioning from such a hectic work/life schedule! I was right, it is the perfect balance of work and life that I needed and I get to play with makeup all day!
Jumping into this new adventure I knew I needed structure and routine, as well as plenty of play dates for me with MY friends! First thing, I got the gym membership back! I could pop in whenever I wanted, unload all this baby weight, and the kids would wave to me from the window as I ran a quick 5k on the treadmill. WRONG!!! I wasted so much money just having the kids adjust to staying 30 minutes in the childcare room crying until someone found me on the gym floor mid workout to come and scoop them up! Ok, plan B; this transition from working mom to SAHM isn’t about me; so bring on lots of aquarium, museum and playground trips! My circle of stay-at-home mom friends are my sanity. I love that I can send a quick text in the morning “My house or yours!” I also find myself at Stew Leonard’s 3 days a week as an outing! The kids love it and I can check emails as they watch the produce dance for 1.5 minutes!
I never really thought of how mentally exhausting it would be to have ZERO alone time. At work I could get up from my desk and clear my head or pop over to the coffee shop next door and regroup over an espresso. This SAHM gig comes with no vacation, sick days or breaks! I am learning how setting goals really brings the structure I desperately need. Some days that goal is to get to Stew’s first thing in the morning so I can drink coffee…hot!
I am super excited to join this team and to share a little more about myself and hopefully get to know you too!
This could be my story except I have one child, a one year old daughter and I left the world of legal services. I definitely don’t see my circle of SAHMs nearly enough though. Looking forward to following this blog!
Karen – It’s hard!!! I thought it was tough managing a few people in the corporate world and commuting via train and subway, but this SAHM gig is no joke!!