Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Top 10 Commandments for Being a Stay-at-Home Mom, Part 1

I actually started this list the day I quit my job, before a return to the Midwest was even a possibility.  As I read through the first draft I was shocked at how much I had to change now that I’m somewhere new and already in the stay at home trenches!

Before I even started my new role as a stay-at-home mom, I felt I needed to create some ground rules for myself to start off on the right foot. I need to stay organized and busy or else this change will be difficult for entire family.

1)Thou Shall Be Awake, Dressed and Caffeinated before Little Man.
I learned long ago that if I stumble out of bed at Max’s first stirrings the day just doesn’t go well. Having to get both of us ready and out the door was a challenge since I’m fairly cranky in the AM. If I am ready to go before he’s calling for me, the day goes better.

When I first started writing this, pre-move, I thought this would be an easy commandment to keep. I was used to getting up early for work and Brett was up at 6, so I got up with him. Now, after a month of weird hours I’ve gotten a taste of sleeping in, and it’s delicious. Also, Brett’s up at 5:30 now- a touch too early for me. So now I’m setting my alarm for 6:30. Hopefully I’ll stop cursing at said alarm it soon.

      2) Thou shall sign up for stuff.
Max and I are very similar. If we are stuck in the house all day, we go insane.  Luckily, even though I no longer bring in income, we can still afford to get involved. Cincinnati opens a plethora of options, all nearby.  We’re already doing play dates with 2 great mom’s groups and we start swim lessons next week. 

I’m not a “lets do crafts and lesson plans” kind of mom.  It’s not in my DNA. Homeschooling sounds like my personal hell. If there is a class, event or kids concert in town, we will be there. Culture is EVERYWHERE and we already have annual passes to the Cincinnati Museum Center and the Newport Aquarium. A zoo membership is next.

3) Thou Shall Create a Weekly Schedule
In the working world, I lived and died by my calendar.  I didn’t really have a ton of meetings, but I was often setting up and preparing meetings for others.  The first thing I did when I got to work was pull up my Outlook calendar. Working around meetings, I then scheduled out what reports, emails and updates needed to be done during the week. Sort of like a to-do list on a timeline. I plan to carry it over into this new world.

Sunday is for scheduling. I’ll list out what classes, appointments and play dates we have. I’ve created a cleaning schedule (more on that in a future post). I’ll list what organizational project I need to tackle, what errand needs to be run.

While, I’m not going to live and die by the schedule, nor will Max be scheduled down to the minute, it will help me be more aware of what is going on.  With a schedule there will be less days where it’s 3PM and we are still in our PJ’s (Not that that scenario won’t happen).

4) Thou shall keep this house clean.
This sore subject will get it’s very own post.   

5)  Thou Shall Exercise Daily
One of the major advantages of my job was that there was a gym on site. We scheduled our sitter so I had the opportunity to get in some exercise after work. I could walk from my desk to the gym. If I had to stop home first, a workout would never happen. Now that I don’t have that luxury, it’s time to start planning my workouts.  However, I need them. I’m already overweight and I can see where staying at home could easily cause me to pack on more pounds. Plus, I just feel better when I work out.

I used to get up and run in the mornings before work/Brett leaving. Now that Brett is out the door by 6 morning runs ain’t gonna happen. Instead, we found a gym with child care. I’ll be there regularly through the summer, then in the fall, I can go when he’s in pre-school. Plus, on weekend mornings, I’m still going to get in my long runs through the streets of Cincy.  I hate the treadmill.


Since things was getting pretty long, I decided to break up this post.  Commandments 6-10 to follow tomorrow. 

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1 comment:

Laura @ The Things I Said I'd Never Do said...
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