Keeping It Real :: Part 3

                          

         What Not To Do:

   *If you see me at Target and the kids are fighting over the popcorn, hiding under the clothes racks or a clerk has been called over to the shoe department because my coffee holder popped off the side of my cart and my $5 Starbucks drink is all over the floor, please don't stop me and say;
               "Don't you just loooove staying home with your kids, Amy? "
                   Ummm...sure, but can we talk about this later? Thanks.

   *And if you call me and we're trying to catch up while I'm trying to fix supper, the kids are fighting and one of them has hit the other one on the head with Batman's chopper, now may not be the time to ask how it's going staying at home full-time with the kids.

    *And when my first baby is only months old and I'm out bra shopping as fast as I can, worried that I am going to start leaking right in the middle of Kohl's, while having hot flashes and feeling quite hormonal, when you run into me please do not do this:
" Congratulations Amy, don't you LOVE being a mom? Isn't it even better than you expected?"
     Oh, and when you hear that I am going back to work in a few weeks? Most certainly do not gasp, put your hand over your mouth and act like you want to cry for me. Not now, please, that's not helpful.
   
*When I am at the store with Charlotte, who is running a temperature, we just spent two hours at the doctor's office, we're waiting for a prescription to be filled for her ear infection, I'm thinking now is not the best time to tell me that you think me not getting called back to my job at school this year was a blessing in disguise. I think you're probably quite right, but I'm a little stressed right now, thank you very much.

If you still feel that you want to talk to me about how much I love being a stay-at-home mom, and how much you do (or did),  these would be the appropriate times to do so:

 First thing in the morning
At night after the kids go to bed
Over coffee, sans children
While out for a drink with the girls, far, far away from home
While we're chatting on the phone while the kids are napping/resting and I can hear myself think
On the rare occasion that you run into me out in public and my kids are behaving quite nicely, standing right next to me while we are talking and all.

I do love staying at home with my kids, I really do. I am grateful for the opportunity to do so and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Does that mean I have to act like every second of every day is pure bliss?  I don't think so. I'm not good at pretending and I really don't like to make others feel like this whole parenting thing is any easy job, it's not. I have to find humor in the bad days, appreciate the good ones and remind myself how fast this time goes.

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                                   Ten on Ten:

Just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow is the 10th. A few of you mentioned last month that you were interested in participating in "Ten on Ten" next time. You should do it. It's fun! Click on the link above to find out more about it. If you do participate, leave me a link in the comments here in the next couple of days so I can check out your day in pictures. Happy Friday Y'all!