SAHM

I’m sure you have heard that a stay at home mom has the hardest job.  I don’t know if everyone agrees with this statement, but I definitely do.  It’s definitely never something I thought I would be doing.  I think part of the reason it is hard, is that people don’t think it’s actually a job.  In other words the SAHM is supposed to do everything for everyone because they are not working and should have plenty of time.

For me at this point the two worst “misconceived notions” about staying at home are (and I am completely throwing Jesse under the bus right now):

1.  What did you do today? 

Which means the house looks like a disaster and dinner isn’t made, so I must have laid around all day long watching TV.  Of course in reality I have probably dealt with sick kids all day long or picked up the house a couple times already, got everyone through breakfast and lunch, done a couple loads of laundry, etc, etc.

Let me build up the scenario for #2.  It’s the middle of the night and one of the kids is crying.  I usually am the first one to get up with them and see what is wrong.  I am up with them for whatever amount of time is necessary to figure out what is wrong and try to get them back to bed.  Then if that doesn’t work and they wake up again, I will usually go back and try again (if it hasn’t been that long and I am still awake).  If it gets to be the third time or it has been a couple hours since the first time and I can’t figure out what is wrong.  Well then…it’s not my turn.  And here is where I get….

2.  My sleep is more important than your sleep because I have to go to work.

This one really bothers me, because it pretty much states, what I am doing is not important and basically requires no sleep.  I actually think staying home running after kids, taking care of them, being at their every beck and call, never getting a moment to yourself, is harder than going to a desk job.  I know some situations are not the same.  And yes as stated before I am usually the one to take the first “wake-up” call from the kids, but I don’t think just because I don’t go into a job means that the office persons sleep is more important than the SAHM’s sleep.  It’s important for everyone to get sleep.

And today these items are especially fresh on my mind.  You see it’s currently 6am and I have been up since midnight.  Oliver just wouldn’t go back to sleep tonight after waking up, even though we were in there over 7 times.  Finally at 4 am, after listening to the third fit of hysterics from my husband because he wasn’t able to sleep and didn’t think it was appropriate that Oliver cry himself to sleep.  Even though he was barely crying off an on, still every time he let out a little cry it was keeping Jesse awake.   I decided I would give up on sleep for tonight and held him in the recliner.  He finally dozed off and I kept holding him until 10 till 6, when of course I heard Bella wake up.  Funny how I had to sacrifice my sleep for the night, even though today I actually have to work at my part time job.  No laying around watching tv being a SAHM today (said with extreme sarcasm)!

(In Jesse’s defense so he doesn’t think I am beating him up that badly.  He did go in with Oliver twice tonight.  And he was probably awake from 1:30am till 4am, so he also did not get a good nights sleep.  I was merely making a point about the “whose sleep in more important” being frustrating to me).