They said it couldn’t be done. 

Ever since my kids grew up and stopped needing me so much, I’ve sort of turned into a workaholic.  It’s my deep rooted need to be needed – and appreciated.  I happen to have a terrific boss who DOES appreciate me and all of my extra effort, so it’s all good.  But I can honestly say that NO ONE thought I could take a whole week vacation without logging into the office at least once, especially my boss.  (okay, so I did log in once or twice. . . but I was just lookin’. . . so no harm done, right)  The point is that I didn’t do ANY work work the whole week.  That’s not to say that I didn’t work my little tushy off at home during my cleaning, I mean, my vacation.

I’ve got to say though, if I didn’t have such a huge project planned for me to focus on at home, there would have been a problem.  I’d have been logged in everyday.

The thing I learned though was that there’s a fine line between the “stay-at-home-mom” and the “working mom”.  I’ve been both at one point or another.  My week off brought to heart feelings of that old life I had where I stayed home, took care of the kids, cleaned the house, ran bazillion errands, played chauffer, and cooked dinner.  All this versus my then later life when I went to work everyday, took care of the kids, cleaned the house, ran bazillion errands, played chauffer, and cooked dinner.  So what’s the fine line, you ask?

I worked hard at them both, but I’ve got to say. . . it’s really hard to say which one I liked better.  Staying at home had its advantages and disadvantages as well as going to work. 

Staying at home. 

Pros - It felt great knowing that it was I that was raising my children, teaching them, playing with them, etc.  My house stayed clean.  Laundry stayed caught up.  I could get involved with their school.  My schedule was as flexible as I wanted it to be.  I could cut my grass anytime of the day instead of only after 5:00pm when it was soccer practice AND dinner time.  There was a great satisfaction in knowing that I was doing a good job.

Cons – You never slow down.  You’re in constant motion.  And after awhile with no adult interaction, your brain starts turning into Playdough.  Your working friends think you don’t do anything all day except watch soap operas and eat bon bons, so they ask endless “favors”, like babysitting THEIR kids.  You are constantly cleaning, constantly cooking and constantly trying to figure out where the Hell all the laundry comes from.

Working.

Pros – You have all kinds of adult interaction (some good and some not so good) and your brain stays sharp.  I felt more current with the world in general.  And honestly, it gives you a break.  Sometimes I didn’t want to go home.  I wanted to stay at work. . . .

Cons – Because honestly, I knew what was waiting for me there. . . all the stuff that I couldn’t handle during the day while I was at work.  You can’t just make those needs disappear.  The kids still have to be chauffered, fed, homework done, etc. and the house still needed to be cleaned and the laundry done.  It all generally got done. . . just not as well.  Not nearly as well.

Oh yeah, and you have NO sick days.  (That’s a universal mom thing though that applies to both)

These days with the kids grown, it is certainly a lot easier.  I love my job.  I love it when we’re crazy busy.  It makes me feel like I’ve done something in my day.  That I was valued.

Then I also LOVE staying at home (as I did this past week) and taking care of my house full-time giving it the attention it so richly deserves (instead of the half-assed cleaning it gets on weekends).  It made me feel good and “valued” just seeing the results of my efforts – satisfaction of a job well done.  I didn’t need a boss to praise me.  I praised myself.  In fact, I think there’s something wrong with my elbow from twisting my arm so much patting myself on the back.

Not to mention how great shopping is during the day.  I HATE shopping!  I hate crowds.  I can not stand waiting in line.  I hate hate hate shopping.  But shopping during the day when the masses are at work – a breeze.  LOVED IT!  I went to Walmart (WallyHell) twice this past week and I didn’t want to hurt a single person.  It wasn’t bad at all.  BECAUSE it wasn’t after 5:00pm on a weekday or the weekend.  I remembered how it used to be when I was that stay-at-home-mom.  That part I’ve really missed.

I actually think I lean more toward the “stay-at-home” mom role (minus children now) basically because that’s what I enjoyed so much last week, but now that I’m back in the saddle here at work, my workaholic zone is kicking in again – only with a clean house at home.

This is what I worked on tonight when I got home from work.  I organized more spices after cleaning out my cabinets.  I love these!!!  I freed up an entire cabinet for me.  Plus, it just looks neat.

Arent’ they cool?!