Ha Ha! Just kidding. I never rest on Sundays. I used to LOVE Sundays. What did we used to call it? "Sunday Fun day" (read...we can start drinking at noon on the beach and it is perfectly ok!)
I can't imagine many Moms that are able to rest on Sundays...Unless you are rich and famous with "people" to take care of all of your Sunday stuff. Wait....let's all close our eyes and take a minute to imagine what that would be like....Ahhhhh....very nice.
Now, back to realty.
Sundays.
I was lucky enough to be able to (have to?) quit my job as a retail manager after Samantha was born because the cost of fulltime child care for 2 was so high, that the amount of money I would net was laughable. It was 2010, I was 39 years old and was going to be unemployed for the first time since I was 15. I had worked retail for a long time. If you have ever worked retail...you know it is not for the faint of heart. And I was a manager for a particular chain that sells lotions and soaps and stuff. Did you know that people get CRAZY about lotions and soaps and stuff? Seriously. I always wanted to say "Lady...it's just lotion. I am sorry we discontinued your FAVORITE scent. I am pretty sure your life isn't actually OVER. Oh, and here's a thought. PICK A NEW SMELL." Lawd.
But, I digress. (which I tend to do from time to time. Just come with me.) The thing is, being a stay at home Mom is hard work. Two babies under two is close to insanity...and mine were 17 months apart!! Everything you have ever read, or experienced firsthand, about being at home ALL DAY with wee ones, it absolutely true! You rarely shower, and are covered in partially digested baby food, from either end of the baby. Grown-up TV is a distant memory. ( I honestly could not tell you the last time I watched the Today Show) Adult conversation is non-existent and the lack of sleep is astounding.
However, while staying home and taking care of the kiddos is a HUGE and difficult job….there IS something wonderful about being able to stay in your yoga pants all day, eat lunch with your littles, and cuddle up and watch Sesame Street. And nap. If the Mommy Gods are smiling on you…you can always catch a nap. Then, when the kids get a touch older and one goes to pre-school…there is a certain amount of respite that I definitely took for granted. While I was no lady of leisure, staying home with the kids had its perks. Then the inevitable happened.
Squeaks reached pre-school age and Buddy was starting kindergarten…and guess what? It was time for Mama to go back to work. I had been out of the work force for over 4 years and my experience was mostly retail and outside sales, with some Real Estate and mortgage lending tossed in for good measure. (I also worked as an actor/singer/dancer at a really great theater company in Texas in my 20s….but the market for middle aged former actor/singer/dancer ladies is thin.) Anyway…the thought of going back to that certain special lotion store (or any retail, really) made me want to stab myself in the eye. But I had no idea what I could do without a real college degree. (4 years in school + working towards a degree in theater + lots of partying and fun times+ taking a job at a theater before I finished= No college degree. Cue sad trombone.)
I truly believe God had a hand in my path back to work. Almost at the exact moment I started looking, I literally found the perfect job, doing something I really enjoy, working for a super company and for people I like and respect, in a field that I had some experience in, and (the BEST part)…it wasn’t retail. (Angels sing right here.)
I went back to work in August. So it’s been 6 months. And I do LOVE my job. But going from staying in my yoga pants and not really having a schedule to getting up extra early for work and getting the kids to school…well, let’s just say it has been an adjustment. My darling husband, being the ever supportive partner, likes to sing the theme to “Welcome Back, Kotter” to me on the mornings when I am having a particularly difficult time. (Didn’t I tell you? He’s a peach.)
And now, instead of having all day to do things like laundry and dishes and dusting and mopping… (Wait…who am I kidding? I don’t dust)…well, now I have to find time to do it AROUND my work schedule. Which usually means the weekends. More specifically, SUNDAYS. For a while, I was trying to do laundry at night after the kids went to bed…which resulted in my staying up late, watching my favorite recorded shows (shout out to Criminal Minds, Walking Dead and Grey’s Anatomy…WOOT!) and eating ice cream…sometimes until 1 or 2 in the morning. It was great in theory…but not so much in practice. (One of my best girlfriends told me that I needed to start calling my yoga pants my “ice cream pants”…because I really only ate ice cream in them and never actually DID any yoga. I heart her. )
So, now, the majority of the housework has to happen on Sundays. And I have to start fairly early in the day…because there’s a SHITLOAD of stuff to do. (Oh, and BTW…I have a filthy mouth. It’s one of my only remaining vices. At first I was going to do the cute little asterisk thingys *** in place of spelling out the actual curse words, because I might offend someone. But then I thought, “Fuck it. It’s my blog and I curse.” So, there you go.)
No, Sunday is not a rest day. And I like to bitch about it. But, the truth is, my family has a home. And food. And clothes. And love. Most days it is messier than I would like. But I always try to remember, when I am buried under mounds of laundry, dirty dishes, pet hair and DUST …. that we have much to be grateful for. And to take a deep breath. And maybe try to sneak in a nap.
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