Dear stay-at-home-moms,
Stop complaining about spending summer vacation with your kids.
Seriously, stop complaining. I work Monday through Thursday, but I have the JOY of spending summer Fridays with my three boys. And let me tell you something, I just LOVE when I struggle all week to get the kids out of bed, but on Fridays, they wake up at 6:00 a.m., before I have even had one gulp of coffee. And I LOVE when, three minutes later, my 8-year-old is asking what he is getting for Christmas.
I love it when I am trying to clean the house and I put the same toy away twelve times in thirty minutes. Also love it when my perfectly clean house is destroyed within two hours. I love when the kids tell me they are bored six hundred times within the first thirty minutes of waking. I love it when they are fighting viciously over a $.50 McDonald’s toy while $5,612 worth of toys in the basement sit untouched.
I love it when I rack my brain, trying to find an activity that will entertain three kids aged 3, 6, and 8, so we end up at the library. I love it when they start fighting over who got to put more coins in the parking meter. I love it so much that we end up putting an extra $2.00 in, just to try and even the score.
I love it when I have to load and unload the dishwasher three times in one day. And I love it when I sweep the kitchen floor four times in one day. I love it when I have to do fifty percent more laundry than I do in the winter, which does not make sense at all because summer clothes are so much smaller.
I love it when their father has punished them (me) by taking away electronics for the day. I love it when I cannot use the bathroom, shower, or get dressed without someone coming in the bathroom to explain how solar panels work, or ask for a drink of water, or ask me how to spell ‘pick axe’. I love it when I hear “Mom” 12 billion times a day. I love it so much that I have since requested to be called Esmerelda. I love it when I say “Bye Felicia” to my three-year-old and he asks, “Momma, why you always call me Felicia?” (OK, I actually DO love that.)
I love it ALL so much that I am not quite sure how you do this every day.
But mostly, I love it when their father comes home.
So stop complaining, stay-at-home-moms, let’s meet up for happy hour instead.
Sincerely,
A mom who thinks you are all amazing
Jill Norander is a full-time wife and mom. She is co-CEO of her household, where the motto is “It’s not just good, it’s good enough!” She is also a full-time physical therapist and enthusiastic blogger. She writes a personal blog about the joys and struggles of raising three boys with the limited time, patience, and energy that one mother can summon.
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