My 12 weeks are up!
Today would have been my first day back to work if we'd stayed in VA. I just can't believe how quickly 12 weeks passed. But since we are no longer in VA, my new job is "Stay-at-home-mom" and/or "Household Engineer" as I've seen it noted recently. While I'm a little sad that I won't be in an office environment (contributing to the family finances), I'm shyly excited about this opportunity to raise my children "in the way that they should go". A lot of women have told me to "enjoy this time with them as they are only this age once" and "if I'd had the opportunity to stay at home, I would have". But since I do NOT have a degree in Parenting (then again, who does?) or Early Childhood Education, so I was am fearful that I will not do as good a job as Josiah's beloved Little Saints Teachers.
I've had lots of time to think and talk with other SAHMs about what it means for my children and my family for me to stay at home. There is no better teacher than a "mother" (inclusive of mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc). And while that may be true, I also know that teaching requires a good deal of patience, which is an attribute that I'm not..so..strong with. :-) And even though I won't be bringing home a paycheck, I will be contributing to our family finances by keeping track of our expenses, planning meals and trips to the store to avoid unnecessary purchases (we all know what going to the store hungry can do for your budget), making sure that our loan/credit card repayment plan stays in order.
Additionally, I do not consider myself to be the most creative when it comes to activities for Josiah; however, I'm proud of what I WAS able to think up for him to do, so I thought I would share. Here are a couple of pics from the last couple of weeks.
I had an unused shallow plastic bin, so I thought to buy a bag of play sand to construct an instant sandbox for Josiah to play in on the back porch.
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A friend of mine made some banana chips with her 3 year old, so I thought I would try it with Josiah. I cut the bananas and he stirred them in the lemon juice.
Here is the finished product....not too bad considering they were the first thing I'd used the food dehydrator for other than beef jerky.
Another friend had a WONDERFUL recipe for Baked Oatmeal. So I let Josiah mix....he just LOVES to help by "making it" in the kitchen.
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4 comments:
Jessi, I respect and admire your decision to stay home more than you will ever know. The work you do raising children is the most important work you can do. You are doing great at it and the world will be a better place because of the good Christian children you raised.
I'm so proud of you. Josiah looks like he's enjoying his wonderful activities.
It is hard to be a SAHM and I while at Burlington Coat Factory with my sassy 4 year old and Jack who can't seem to sit for 1 minute in the shopping cart, I was even envious of the cashier. It is often hard to remember that being at home is "best" for your kids. Especially after a day like we had today. It's just taking the good with the bad and letting the guilt go. I wish I had some ideas for you and Josiah but even though I have been at home for 4 years now I still struggle with activities. We just bought a slip and slide at target for $5 in the clearance asile. The kids have liked it and don't forget filling up a rubbermaid tub and letting Josiah just get into that. It seems like it would be the same as a pool but for whatever reason it is a different kind of fun especially with a popscicle. Then you just wash the stickyness away. You are doing great!! Way to connect and survive the storm. I get freaked out when the electricity goes out for 2 hours.
I'm really happy for all the mothers who can stay home with their children. I still want to, but I think X wants to put me to work. Not very happy with that idea.
PS - Glad yall survived Dolly.
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