This Is Me

Hi there - my name is Ashley and I am a stay at home mom.
Yes, my kids will both be in school full time in September and I will
STILL be a stay at home mom.

With Mr. K starting full day kindergarten this September, I have been asked more times than I can even count when I will start back to work.  Everyone knows that I am a stay at home mom, but for some reason, people can't fathom a parent being at home when their children are not, and assume that my being at home will end when the kids are not here.

I know things have changed, and now it is seemingly more common to have both parents working outside of the home, but that's not what I (we) want.  I have always dreamed of being a mom.  I often had thoughts of being a teacher, or a nurse when I was young - but I knew that when I had kids, I would stop.  For me, even if I had a career, I had no intentions of staying in the workforce.

I grew up with my mom at home.  I came home from school, and she was either at the door or in the kitchen to greet us.  There was almost always a snack on the kitchen table awaiting our arrival.

THAT is what I want for my kids.  I will be the one to get them to school (either on the bus or dropping them off) and I will be the one to pick them up after school.  I don't have to worry about calling in to work if either of them is sick.  I don't have to worry about missing a meeting to get them to a doctor's appointment.

I can be present at pretty much all school functions that happen during day time hours, and I can even volunteer in their classrooms. 

I can get most of the housework, meal prep and laundry done while the kids are at school, so that I can spend the precious few hours that they are home with them.

 Some people wonder what I could possibly do everyday that would keep me from being bored, so here is a list:

• clean without a 4 yr old "helping"
• bake without a 4 yr old "helping"
• meal prep without countless interruptions
• laundry 
• groceries (alone)
• putting away groceries (alone)
• running errands without a tag along
• appointments for me without worrying about finding someone to watch the kids
• volunteering at the school (I hope to be in each of their classes 1 morning or 1 afternoon a week)
• volunteering my time for something (I have not decided what yet)

In addition to the list above, I am hoping to get the house painted.  I have a lot of prep in the kitchen to do (a border that was put up long before we bought the house, and which I have wanted to take down since we moved in - 10 years ago)

I have lots to do that will keep me busy, as well as working on Tales of Mommyhood (I will now have more time to spend during daytime hours, instead of evenings after the kids have gone to bed).

So - this is me - a woman that is happy to be at home, with or without her boys.  A woman that is happy not to have to rush around in the mornings getting ready for work and kids ready for daycare/school.  A woman that is content to be at home.  A woman who does not miss the traffic on her way to work.  A woman that does not feel she has missed out on or given anything up to fulfill a dream - this is me.