Hours in the Day

With two young children, I truly feel like there are not enough hours in the day. I admire all working Moms out there. I worked briefly after my daughter was born. My husband was traveling weeks at a time during this time. All I seemed to do is eat, sleep, and work. I remember feeling absolutely exhausted, probably in part to having a nursing newborn. I know I probably did not clean my house for four months during that time.

Our society puts many demands on women. Women should work to contribute to the family and their own well being. Cooking nutritious meals to ensure their children are healthy is paramount. Keeping their house looking as spectacular as the pages of Better Homes and Gardens is the goal. Spending quality time with each child to promote optimal scholastic development is neccessary. Taking their children to various extracurricular activities to ensure a "well rounded" child is a requirement. If women are stay-at-home Moms, then they should do all of the above, except working outside the home, and take time to volunteer at school, church, or wherever. They have the time of course...

My mantra recently has been to scale back. We are planning to send my daughter to public Kindergarten in the Fall. I hope to spend the next few months just enjoying my time with her before this next big life change. I have enjoyed the preschool years so much. A more mature Mom friend once told me the preschool years can be thought of having the longest days, but the shortest years. I looked over my "to do" for today and realized playing with the children was not on it. I need to evaluate what is truly important. I am often struck by the fact that my children are only little once. When they are teenagers, they will not want me to play dress up or tractors with them. Each day is an opportunity and life is what I make it. And now I need to go particpate in a band concert...with a plasitc bottle shaker.