Mommy's Little Helpers

When I am at home with my kids, I try really hard to have them contribute to the household. I feel very strongly that children can learn to pick up after themselves and help out around the house - and still have fun being kids (maybe the Montessori education in me coming out). I have a rule in our house that all toys must be put away before bedtime, those that aren’t become mommy’s toys (we do a pretty good job of putting things away during the day but there are always a few stray things hanging out before bed). No, I have never followed through on this rule, even when the opportunity presented itself! Just recently I made up a new Sunday chore for both J & L – every Sunday evening after their baths, they need to dump the laundry baskets from their rooms into the laundry room. This week we also taught J to put his dishes in the dishwasher instead of just the sink. While these are not hugely significant contributions to the daily maintenance of the home for a family of 5, I figure every little bit counts (and we’ll keep building).

Before I was even off the payroll at my previous employer, I put my sister on contract to help me out each week. Truth be told, I was really nervous about being with three kids under 4 - ALL day, EVERY day. I also didn’t see how I would be able to do some things with all three --- like take a sick kid to the doctor, shop for emergency sundries or get the necessary mani/pedi! Today was the first day since I’ve been at home full-time that I needed to enlist her help (EC had her 4 month check-up today – besides the 4 shots, she checked out A-OK).

Here’s the part that I didn’t anticipate about getting help --- I kinda felt like I was playing hookie! Those of you who know me will understand that this doesn’t necessarily make me feel warm and fuzzy inside (I was a total nerd in school and attended pretty much every class). To help ease my guilt, I took the kids to the pool late this afternoon (and bought them chocolate ice cream). Unfortunately, lots of other things were on the docket for today and this evening so I’m feeling a bit like I did when I worked outside the home – STRESSED OUT!

There is one other little helper that helps me get through the particularly rough days. You guessed it – my good friend Wine.

(My assistant gave me a gift on my last day of work ---- I had never seen this before and can’t bring myself to drink it because I think it’s too clever (don’t worry, I’ve found plenty of other bottles worthy of uncorking!))

Lessons I learned today:

·         As much as I would love to have a green-thumb, it sadly is a nice shade of brown (which JP thinks is my favorite color because pretty much everything in our house is either beige or brown).

·         Retail therapy does not have the same powers when you’re skipping out on your kids.

·         Being a SAHM is hard work, I’ll take all the help I can get.