Mom Unemployed- Month One Review Of Motherhood Stage Two
August 28th of this year, all three of my children started elementary school. With all my children now in school no one was at home to take care of. No one asking for lunch and to play tea. No one to ask me to read them books and sit and color with them. I was left alone to my own devices. I was mom unemployed.
Week One
When I dropped Kiwi (our youngest child) off at school the first day I was prepared to ugly cry. My “baby” was growing up. I feel like she is the only one who loves me.
Kiwi is often like that favorite blanket you might have that you wrap around yourself when you feel sick or sad. She provides me the same comfort and reassurance that I am doing something right as a parent. She spontaneously hugs me (but in reality I know it is because she wants something), she tells me randomly she loves me, she actually likes to sit with me and watch tv. My other two children cringe at hugs and kisses and keep me at arm’s length. I was afraid I would have Empty Nest Syndrome a decade prematurely. However, so far that hasn’t happened. Maybe. However, for numerous reasons I wouldn’t allow myself to cry that first day.
Luckily, during the first week of school, the MOPS (Mother Of Preschoolers Group) group I am part of held their bi-annual children’s consignments sale. The Twice Is Nice sale is the backbone our group runs on. Being a member of our MOPS comes with hard work and rewards. For 4 days, our group of mom’s volunteer to set up, accept inventory, breakdown and host Fayetteville, North Carolina’s best children’s consignment sale. It’s awesome and amazing. However, during that same time, my in-laws came for a visit. My heart was torn between spending the limited time we had with them or at the sale which provides so much to our community.
Week Two
Luckily I was able to do both and spend more time with my in-laws the second week winery hopping! For the first time ever, all our kids were in school so we were able to do adult things. It was totally amazing. We sipped wine at Chatham Hill Winery and ate cheese at Hinnant Family Winery. Then took a beautiful drive over to Gregory, Adams and other Wineries. The week family was in town we visited 5 wineries in two days. Sooo… the rest of the week I finished recuperating from the sale and making some great memories with family!
Week three
I had massive intentions of writing up more posts, working on some planner things, sewing up some orders for my Etsy shop and more. But… I didn’t. Instead, Handsome Hub and I decided it was time to trade in our beloved family suv for a new one with a lower payment. However, good intentions don’t always go as planned. We drove a little over an hour to a bigger city to purchase the exact suv we wanted; that’s when disaster struck. Our amazing fully loaded suv became our worst enemy when it decide to not start at the exact moment the dealership was evaluating it for trade-in. Good-bye full trade-in value. Hello, negotiation hell. 8 hours later (yes, that isn’t a typo) we finally drove off the lot with whatever vehicle we could afford.
I’m trying so hard to suck on the bitter pill we were given, but it still hasn’t digested.
The rest of the week I was so run down from the weeks before that I did a lot of nothing besides freaking out over things out of my control- Hurricane Irma + house we are selling with a closing date the same week.
Week Four
The last week of the month brought meetings and more stress and worry. This past summer we were forced to put my grandmother in a home as Alzheimer’s set in. Furthermore, last week her home was sold. Her house held so much more for me than just memories and seeing it sold meant I would never be back to the sleepy little town with only one stop sign. It’s quiet innocence on the Mississippi River brought comfort and security during my entire lifetime.
Conclusion
So absolutely no progress has actually been made on me. I’m still o.k. at several talents and proficient at none. I am still mom unemployed.
Don’t give up on you. Keep trying to get all that stuff you need to do done! Im trying my best every day as I procrastinate!!
I’m too stubborn to give up! But I do procrastinate too.
You will find your groove! I went from working full time to working at home (after all my kids had gone to school) and the shift was hard.. You’ll make it!
Thanks for the encouragement. I needed it!
I’m sure you’ll find a groove soon. Sounds like you still had quite the busy month. We sold my grandmother’s home earlier in the year too and it was really difficult. I actually posted about it as a way to remember it. Hopefully the consignment sale was a success!
The sale was awesome! My mom has some mementos she saved for me from the house. Maybe I will write a little something to help me.
I’m a SAHM too, and I always think each year I’ll have everything together. Of course I’ll have a million side hustles, rack in all the cash, and have a hot body…. that’s not the case. AT ALL. However, the kids are happy, I’m more like an unpaid Lyft driver, but I’m there, they can count on me.
You’re there, they love that, and I’m sure we’ll both find our grove soon. (Although, my kids are older than yours, so I should already have this somewhat figured out.)
xo
-Dean
You’ve got to let me know if you figure it out! I’m only on month one and feel like I’ve already failed
In my opinion you were still productive just in different ways. The winery trip looked lovely!
The winery trips were amazing. Something hubs and I don’t do on our own. So it was nice to experience it
Seems like you had such a busy month! You survived it and glad you had some good moments mixed in there!
I did survive it! lol. I didn’t think of it that way.
You’ve got this. I totally get how frustrating it can be!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels it’s frustrating!
I hear you and feel your pain BUT I disagree. Progress has been made on you. You have ventured out of your comfort zone attending events and connecting with other Bloggers. You are expanding your brand’s identity and presence through your Etsy shop as well as selling in local stores. You are mastering being a mom of 3 amazing kids and you are rocking this thing called friendship! I call month one a Win with room for growth but moments worth applause!
Signed,
A friend who see you!