Day 4: Just Staying Home
I made a commitment to blog for 31 days and I will stick to it. But, I want to go ahead and give you guys a heads up about this weekend. Our student ministry has a huge event every year called Decrease. If you know anything about student ministry, it's basically a modern Disciple Now weekend where students break up into small groups and stay at host homes and then meet together every night for worship. Also, there's a mega relay involved where kids get coated with flour and water (but, shhh... we don't tell them that beforehand). I'll be leading worship with the band for the next three days and hanging out with the students the rest of the time. This year we have about 300 students signed up to attend! So you can bet it will be a jam packed weekend, with lots of relationship building and spiritual growth. I. CAN'T. WAIT.
So... what am I discontent about today? The fact that I don't have enough time in a day to do everything that needs to get done.
And can I admit something real quick? Since I'm a "stay-at-home" mom, sometimes I feel like I don't have the right to say that.
Like saying, "I'm busy" to a mom who works 40 hours a week, seems insulting almost. But at the same time... I desperately mean it.
Take today, for instance. Here was my schedule:
7:30am - Wake up (Micah let me sleep in an extra 30 minutes!)8:00am - Eat breakfast8:30am - Turn on "The Cat in the Hat" for Micah, while I sit on the couch and read my devotional for the day.9:00am - Play on the floor with Micah/wear him out good for his nap/wait for signs of tiredness9:30am - Put Micah down for a nap10:00am - Clean up the kitchen/living room (unless I woke up before 6:30am that morning, then I'm totally taking a nap!) Today, I cleaned. We have a guest staying with us tonight, so I crammed in some extra chores on top of my daily routine. 11:00am - Get showered/dressed for the day11:30am - Micah wakes up (sometimes he wakes up before I have a chance to get ready, which in turn means sometimes I miss my shower) Because of the extra time spent cleaning, today he woke up before I showered, but I HAD to get one - so he spent time in his pack 'n play aka "baby jail."12:00pm - Lunch (sometimes Josh comes home, sometimes we go out, sometimes I have lunch with a friend) Today, Josh came home. :) **This is where the schedule changes daily. But most days, besides Mondays and Fridays, are jam-packed just like this.** 1:00pm - Drove Josh back up to the church. We basically share one car, unless it's for short trips. Josh has a jeep wrangler that needs a new top. Today he needed the car to drive an hour to the Orlando airport at 3:00pm and I needed to teach guitar lessons up at the church at 3:30pm, so me and Micah had to go ahead up there early. 1:30-3:30pm - Spent time in the office helping prepare for Decrease and letting Micah play a little while in the 1 year old room (see picture above!)3:30pm - 5:00pm - Guitar lessons (During this time, Micah was being watched by one of Josh's interns and took about a 30 minute nap)5:00pm - Got a ride home from one of our friends/neighbors, who also works at the church. 5:30pm - Realized I didn't have a key to my house and spent a few minutes calling around and then got the bright idea to call my landlord and find out what the garage code was!5:45pm - Prepare/eat dinner with Micah6:30pm - Finished getting a few things ready around the house for our guest, while Micah played in the living room. 7:00pm - Gave Micah a bath7:30pm - Put Micah to bed8:00pm - Whew! I finally get a chance to sit down and breathe, oh let me let our dog Heidi out real quick... (insert some-what-contained-because-baby-is-sleeping high pitched scream) A FROG!!! Spend the next 20 minutes chasing a frog around the house with a cup trying to capture the wicked thing. Finally trap it. Refuse to pick it up myself and leave it there until Josh gets home. 9:00pm - Welcome home, Josh (and friend!) Spend time eating cheesecake and chatting with them until... well, 30 minutes ago.
Here I am and it's almost midnight. I wish that I had more time in the day.
Today is all about recognizing the fact that being a "stay-at-home" mom doesn't make me any less busy. And feeling the need to refrain from sharing with others that... "hey, I'm swamped today!" because of fear that my busy doesn't look the same as someone else's busy, is just plain ridiculous.
But I let it burden me. I answer the question, "Do you just stay at home with Micah?" with a smile and a shy, "Yes." When I just want to scream, "It's more than JUST STAYING HOME!"
And so today, I let go of that. I'm going to proudly wear my "stay-at-home" mom title with joy. And not feel obligated to volunteer for everything, because I must, "have the time." No, sweet friend, I don't have the time today. I'm busy raising a wild, crazy, free-spirited, fun-loving, future-man.
And I am perfectly... content.
This post is part of a series I’m writing for the month of October entitled “31 Days of Being Content.” See all other posts in this series by clicking here. Or enter your email address in the sidebar on the right to subscribe to this blog and receive posts straight to your inbox!