Day 1 Being A Stay At Home Mom

As you know, I teach second grade...so I look forward to summer all "school" year! I am especially excited about getting to spend this summer being a stay at home MOM with my Addison. We spent last summer together, but I have to admit...I don't remember much. Between nursing, taking naps and trying to constantly soothe my baby with colic (it went by fast). Oh, Neil was off a lot last summer too!

I absolutely love being a teacher, but I really love being a MOM! When I first left Addison I never thought I could be happy being a full time teacher and mom, but over time (and really not having another option)...I coped and realized that I wanted to make the best of our situation. All year I hated leaving her, but was comforted in knowing she was well taken care of! I also have to admit that I pride myself in knowing that I can help support our family and do something that I love. Its also nice to know that I put all that schooling and money for schooling to good use! I not only worked full time, but maintain a decently clean house, and juggled being a mom. I can't think of any other job that gets 8 weeks of summer vacation, every holiday off (including 2 weeks around Christmas), and every weekend off! Plus, I get to spend my day with adorable children!

I have exactly 2 months before I go back to work and I plan to make the best of everyday off with my little girl! So, this morning Addison woke up at an early 5AM. I guess she was excited about our first day off together too! We ate some breakfast and went back to bed in Neil and I's bed until 7AM. I dragged out of bed to chase Addison as she ran out the room to play with her toys. I had the house cleaned up and 2 loads of laundry going before 9AM (super mom!). I decided I wanted to get a little healthier this summer and walk in the mornings. I thought it would be great to take the stroller let Addison walk some and stroll some! It didn't happen like I thought. She wanted to look at every thing on the road, pick up and put in her mouth every rock and refused to sit in the stroller. Our walk ended with her screaming because I straped her in the stroller because I had fished too many rocks out of her mouth and we weren't making any progress around the small circle! We came home and I let Neil (he was off this morning) have some quality time with her. She fell asleep for almost an hour with him while he studied.

Later, we ate lunch and she went to our good friend Jamie's house so I could go to a doctor's appointment. We then went to Walmart, but she fell asleep on the way and I held her sleeping self for about 10 minutes until my arm lost all feeling and I had to put her in the buggy. Then the wailing began, but quickly diminished when I opened a can of Pringles...thank goodness! We stopped by Taco Bell, even though I just spent $80 at Walmart on groceries and came home. She fell asleep on the way home. I woke her up getting her out and the melt down continued until Neil (he was home now) played a Kung Fu Panda you tube video for her that she loves. Then dinner, bath, read some books, played and now bed!

I loved watching her play with her toys and I realized just how smart she is. She is learning so much everyday. I really love seeing her do things that I haven't even taught her, but that she has picked up on her own, like...putting on chapstick, lotion, and makeup (just with my brush), getting her keys to open the bathroom door, and getting her purse when it was time to leave. She even has to put her toothbrush under the running water after I put toothpaste on it!

I'm exhausted!!! Rule Number 1 that I learned today: NAPS ARE A MUST FOR ADDISON, MAYBE EVEN FOR ME! At another time today, I even thought that maybe I need to adopt "temporarily" another child so that Addison can be entertained more! I can easily handle 20 7-8 year olds, but my 1 year...that's another story! All in all...I can get use to this stay at home mom stuff with a little more practice! Tomorrow's agenda...get the oil changed in the car, having some friends over to play in our kiddie pool, NAP TIME, and playing all day together!!! I can't wait!