Temporary Stay at Home Mom

There is a lot of hullabaloo about whether being a stay at home Mom or being a working Mom is best. Truth be told, I think both have their ups and downs, but the most important thing is to choose the one that works best for you. Granted, not everyone has a choice, but if you do, choosing one over the other because of public opinion and not based on your own thoughts is a recipe for misery.

In our family, I don't have a choice. If J or I needed to stay home, it would need to be J because I carry our benefits and most of our income. Honestly? That's okay with me. I love my family more than life its self, but I also love working and providing for them.

That being said, it has been nice being a temporary stay at home Mom. Though the last six weeks have been a vacation in "newborn land" and comprised of a lot of couch time, the last six weeks of my maternity leave are going to be slightly different. Starting tomorrow, we're pulling C from daycare and I'll have both kids home with me. Why? Being off for this 12 week stretch is a unique opportunity. We won't even entertain the idea of a third kid until C is in kindergarten and even then, when I'm on maternity leave for that kid, C will be at school and not home with me. This really is my only opportunity to stay home with him, even if for just a few weeks. Plus, it'll save us something like $800 in daycare costs, which is a sweet bonus.

And yes, I'm kind of terrified.

I know people do it all the time with varying numbers of kids of varying ages, but I'm still concerned/curious as to how this will go. My biggest concern is that I won't have enough time to entertain him. G is a good napper, but she's also a good eater, leaving me stuck to the couch for a lot of the day. C is a very easy going kid, but he'll also chill and watch TV all. day. long. if I let him. Not exactly the quality time I was striving for. Now, I'm not concerned with having over the top developmental activities or what not everyday, but I want to make sure we play, go outside, and do fun things. Will there be fun days where we get a ton of cool stuff done? Hopefully. Will there be days where we sit in our PJs all day long, munch on dry cereal, and do absolutely nothing? Probably. And that's okay too. Maybe we'll temporarily get involved in a play group? Maybe we'll just entertain ourselves. Who knows.

Also, because I'm certifiably insane, we're going to be starting..........potty training. ::gulp:: Since I'm off until the middle of June and J is off from June until August, it's really a perfect time to do it. I really hope to have C completely potty trained by the time he goes back to school full time in August. I think its an attainable goal, but more experienced parents out there may be laughing at me. Sometime this week, we'll be heading to Target for some underpants and M&Ms because well, no good potty training goes without bribery.

So here's goes nothing. My best attempt at being the stay at home Mom of a toddler and a newborn. I feel like I need a helmet and lots of coffee for this endeavor, but we'll see.