SAHM

It's Day 3 of Deb-is-a-stay-at-home-Mom-time, otherwise known as summer vacation.  When I get so busy during the school year and have days when I only see my kids right after they wake up and right before they go to sleep, I tell myself: "You and Sven work hard, but for 11 weeks each year your kids get two full-time stay at home parents."  It's true.  It makes me feel better.

That being said, I currently get two more weeks of vacation than Sven, so there are two weeks in which I am, functionally, a Stay-At-Home-Mom, or SAHM.  Being a SAHM is a tough job, but it is one from which I receive many blessings.  First, I receive the blessing of appreciating the fact that I work outside the home 39 weeks a year.

I kid!  I kid because I love.  I love being with my kids so much.  That being said, this year is very different from previous years because of the change in my health.  In previous years my goal was to do as little as possible so I would have as much time as possible doing nothing.  I avoided commitments to anything that might cut into my nothing time.

This past Monday I began my summer vacation with a day of housework.  I accomplished more on Monday than I have ever accomplished on the first day of summer.  Heck, I got more done on Monday than I got done in total last summer.  I cleaned out the last of my unwearable clothes and reorganized my side of the closet.   I cleaned my room, my bathroom, the kids' rooms, and the living room.  I cleaned the kitchen and emptied the refrigerator and freezer of bad/old food.  I washed every dish in the house and did everyone's laundry.  I washed all of the towels.  I went to the grocery store.  I cooked my family breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Then I had to face Tuesday.  So much was done... what was left?  I went to the gym, then got home and took a long nap.  I still cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone.  I cleaned up the dishes as I went.  I did a few more loads of laundry (blankets and quilts).  I found myself looking for things to do as I realized there was *nothing* to do.

Now I'm blatantly fishing for things to do.  Today I went to the gym again (and will go tomorrow).  Thankfully, on the way out the door, Princess asked, "Mommy, can we bake cookies today?"

"Yes!" I cried with enthusiasm.  "Let's make cookies this afternoon!"  After a quick post-gym trip to Wal-Mart for supplies, we were set.  I cooked lunch (having cooked breakfast previously) and assembled the ingredients and supplies for two very different kinds of cookies.  Princess helped.  By 2:00 I had cooling on my countertop healthy chocolate chip cookies and a strange but very tasty concoction of my own design: fairly fat-free pumpkin cookies with white chocolate chips and Craisins.  I had a mess to clean up.

Mess was cleaned by 3:00.  Sven gets home at 4:00 and I'm telling him enthusiastically about my plans for dinner.  I mention steak.

"Steak?" he asks with a dynamic sparkle in his eye.  "Do we have lighter fluid?"  Sven grilled the steaks, which left me to side-dish duty, meaning I had to open cans and turn on the stove.  (And place a bag in the microwave, let us not forget.)  Dinner was over at 8:30.  Dishes were in the dishwasher and everything was cleaned up by 9:00.  I folded the laundry and went upstairs.

Sven will be done with work for the summer by early next week.  I'm not sure if I want him to carry his part of the load or get out of my way.  I've got stuff to do.

Just wait...

At 1 month: "Just wait until you've been together a few months, when it isn't new anymore but you don't have a lot invested in a relationship.  That's when things get tough."

At 6 months: "Just wait until you've been together a year.  That's when the real boredom sets in and you start wondering if he's really where he says he'll be."

At 1 year: "Just wait until you move in together.  Once you can't get away from each other and you see how disgusting another human being can be, it all falls apart."

At cohabitation: "Just wait until you get engaged.  Making it official changes everything."

At engagement: "Now you're in for it.  Planning a wedding ruins people.  Just wait."

After the wedding: "Once you've been married a while, the spark is gone.  Just wait until you realize he's the only person you're ever going to kiss for the rest of your life."

On your second anniversary: "Just wait until you have kids.  It's all over then."

After the birth of your first child: "Sure, it's easy having one, but just wait until you hit the terrible twos."

When you're pregnant with your second: "Now you've done it.  Just wait until you're elbow-deep in diapers and your toddler is dismantling your DVD player and your husband waltzes in and asks what's for supper.  Then you know it's over."

On your tenth anniversary: "Just wait."

Still waiting, after twelve years.  So far, so good.

Sven and Deb, married June 5, 1999

Just waiting to see what will come next.