My Stint as a Stay-at-Home Mom

Honestly, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle my maternity leave.  It's one thing to be home with your sweet and cuddly newborn on limited sleep and it's another to be home with your sweet and cuddly newborn AND an almost 2 AND 3 year old on limited sleep...every day!  I mean, I'm a working mom...being with my kids 24/7 isn't something that happens very often (as in happens only when I am on maternity leave).  As much as I hate to leave my kids every day, I have to work, but I actually like working...I like what I do, I like the people I work with, I like my schedule and my flexibility, I like making my 'own' money, and I like the 'extras' my income allows our family to enjoy.

And up until about a month ago, I always thought that being a working mom was just best for me.

But I have really, really, really enjoyed being home with my 3 kids the past 5 weeks.  Honestly, I have kind of surprised myself at how much I have enjoyed it.  Yes, there have definitely been moments that have been challenging (lots of moments) and it would be awesome to have an endless budget to keep the kids entertained with fun activities every day, but nonetheless we've been having a lot of fun the past few weeks. 

Originally, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to manage a shower each day and I thought we'd spend a lot of time at home as it's quite a task venturing out with 3 kids...but we've been busy!  We've gone shopping, out for donuts, to lunch, to the library, to the museum and to the park (multiple times and multiple parks).  We've stayed home and played with trains, and done art projects, and played with trains, and went swimming, and had dance parties, and played with trains, and watched movies, and had playdates and played with trains.  Did I mentioned we've played with trains?? 

I've even kept up with laundry and kept the house clean and cleaned out closets and showered (well, almost every day on the showers)!

I am really liking this stay-at-home mom gig!  And I know the kids are loving having me home too.  Just last week, little Kahn told me how much 'he loved having me home with him instead of me going to work every day.'  Talk about making me feel horrible!

I'm not going to lie to anyone though...being a stay-at-home mom is hard work and when I say it is like a vacation going to work, I mean it...it is much, much easier for me to go to work everyday than be home with the kids.  I basically get 8 hours of peace and quiet when I go to work...I am pretty sure I don't get more than 3 minutes of peace and quiet at home each day.  But even with all the craziness, and the constant bickering between kids, and the tantrums, and the endless diapers, and the constant mess in the house, I am still enjoying every minute of being with my kids every day! 

Let's see if I say that at the end of my next 5 weeks of leave...

Here's a few pictures of the kids (compliments of my iPhone) from the past few weeks that I have been home with them. 

I love them so much and I am so happy that I get to spend this extended time with them as a temporary stay-at-home mom!