Motherhood Explained

I will jump right in and start with describing a normal day as a Stay At Home Mommy (SAHM).
I will start with bedtime because it makes more sense that way.

Around 7-7:45pm I give Gage his last bottle of the evening and can usually successfully put him down to sleep. This is after 2 hours of general fussiness if he decided that an afternoon nap didn't interest him that day.

We eat dinner, which is rarely anything fancy these days, and Curtis gets the short end of the stick sometimes. We've gotten into a routine where we trade off entertaining Grumpy while we tag team cooking dinner. And by cooking, it could mean I start cooking hamburger meat for some pre-boxed dinner, and Curtis tends to it while it finishes browning, and we mix in whatever pasta or sauce or flavor packet he picked out. Or it could be my dear friend, Stouffer's and one of their many lovely frozen family meals - lasagna, sesame chicken, etc. Occasionally Curtis votes to order some take out and goes and picks up dinner.
Lately, Gage has been waking up around 10pm and being a little fussy, so I put him in bed next to me to get him to go back to sleep.
Between 4am-6am: Gage wakes up to have breakfast. The two hour time frame depends on when he went to bed the night before. He will usually go back to sleep til 7:30 or so.

7:30am-8:15am: Gage is ready to start his day. He is in a great mood, and we play and giggle til he starts getting annoyed by me.

Around 9am he eats

9:15-9:45am: We go to the bedrooom to cuddle and settle down for a morning nap. This is only a NEWLY LEARNED idea. Naps go from 45 minutes to a blessed 2 hours.

And, then he eats again.

And, we can hang out and stuff, but he's constantly needing entertainment. He might take an afternoon nap. We are working on the naps. He's grumpy when he doesnt nap. Which, is exactly why I am staying home. I want him to be engaged and stimulated. I read books, I play and sing and talk. It's very rewarding.

Conversely, I remember nothing important. I rarely see adults. I think I might chunk a bottle at the wall when I am at my wits end. I don't get to shower every day. And, the other day, I didn't even remember to brush my teeth that morning. My problem solving skills left with the pleasure of sleeping through the night. I get poop and spit up on my clothes. I went 3 months without mopping all the floors in my house. I squeeze in some coffee after the first cheery morning wake up, and I might eat lunch by 3pm. Laundry gets washed, and sometimes folded, but rarely hung up. I have days (sometimes 3 or 4 in a row) that I can say are "bad days". Days when the tiredness catches up, the constant 24/7 job of Mommy wears my patience thin.

Motherhood has driven me closer to my Lord. It's like a death row inmate finding religion. You realize you can't face it alone. And, not that I am ALONE. We have family that watches Gage if we need it. Of course, you can't take advantage of them! I started taking him to Mother's Day Out for socialization (ok, really for my sanity). Most importantly, I obviously have my wonderful, supportive, helpful husband.

It's not to say this is easy. It's not to say that it's not rewarding. Absolutely nothing can prepare you for this. And, I think if anyone could accurately portray and explain what being a parent is like, no one would do it. It SOUNDS hard. It IS hard. But, damn, it's awesome.