Stay-at-home momma

The term stay-at-home mom makes me laugh, mostly because I'm never home.  I know there are other titles... domestic engineer, homemaker, MOM (mobile operations manager), but I always default to stay-at-home mom because that's what my mom was.  Is it politically correct?  I don't know, and honestly, I choose not to care.

I'm not one of those people who believe that staying-at-home is the only way; I won't even tell you if it's the better way, mostly because I think that's a personal choice.  For me, right now, it's the best thing for my kids.  For me, later, I might have a different opinion.

Remember when Dallas Child wrote an article about our family and shared our daily schedule?  Well, I only thought that was busy!  Our schedule has changed quite a bit from last fall and now includes a lot of car time and drop-offs and pick-ups.  As a parent I'm only doing what I believe is best for my children, and, like any good parent I question every decision I make.

Stone's two-school schedule and the addition of Cash's new speech therapy group keep us hopping, but the results that we're seeing are telling us that, for right now, we're doing the right thing for our kids...  here's a  look at our typical Monday:

7 a.m.: Everybody wakes up - Heath and I take turns getting dressed and taking care of/feeding the kids.  Our kids like a lot of morning cuddles, so we're typically slow wakers.
8 a.m.:  Heath heads into his home office to get a jump-start on his day.  I finish up with the boys, get them dressed, hair/teeth brushed and shoes on while picking up toys and making beds.  I can't stand to leave the house dirty.
8:45 a.m.: Heath  takes a break and helps me to load kids in the car.  I throw in a load of laundry, grab my tea and the school bags (and usually a cheese stick for breakfast) and we head out the door
9 a.m.:  We wait in the carpool line - the kids rock out to Jim Gill and we talk about how exciting our days are going to be.  I try really hard to use our car time effectively since we have a lot of it.
9:15 a.m.:  Stone gets out of the car with his teachers and the little boys and I head to run an errand - usually we do one of my couponing CVS or Walgreens runs.
10:15 a.m.:  We're back at Stone's school, this time for Cash's group speech therapy.  Cash heads in to group and Holden and I head into the viewing room.  We split our time between the viewing room for Cash's group and the viewing room for Stone's school.  I always bring a snack and a bag of tricks for Holden and we spend some time matching colors, doing puzzles and reading books while watching the big boys.
11:30 a.m.:  Holden and I head into the carpool line... I usually put on a video for him so that he can stay awake in the car until we get home.
11:50 a.m.:  The big boys pile in the car and I get a rundown of their days.  Stone ALWAYS gets in the car and says, "Good day Mamma!"  I am so pleased that he loves school.
noon:  We swing by the house and pick up pre-packed lunches for the boys.  They usually eat in the car.  I know, not the best example to set, but it's the only way we can fit it in.  Stone and Cash both eat big snacks while they are in school in the morning, so typically they aren't too big on lunch anyway.  Daddy always comes out of his office to take a break and hear about our days.  It's so nice to have him home!
12:20 p.m.:  Drop Stone off at his afternoon school.  I drink a SlimFast for lunch while I'm in the line.  Not because I'm trying to loose weight - it's fast and full of vitamins.
12:30 p.m.:  The little boys and I are back home and they head straight to nap.  While they nap I put the clothes in the dryer, make dinner, do any cleaning that I need to do, check E-mail, work on the yearbook, take the clothes out of the dryer, fold them and put them away.
3:00 p.m.:  Wake the little boys up if they aren't up already.  Hand them their milk and we either hop in the stroller or car to head to pick big brother up.
3:15 p.m.: Pick Stone up from school.
3:30 p.m.:  Back home.  We do some reading, snacking and vegging.  Stone really needs this time to decompress and the little boys are typically so excited to just be home with their own toys that everyone is well entertained.  I love this time of day... it's nice to have my three boys together and I usually get lots of cuddles.  If we can sneak some Tot School work in too, great.  If we don't, we save it for another day.
5 p.m.:  Daddy heads out of his office and the boys beg him to play hide-and-seek.  I use this bit of time to finish up any dinner that I need to and start getting things on the table.
5:30 p.m.: Dinner time.
6:15 p.m.: In the bath!  This is my kids favorite time of night.  They splash, sing and generally act like crazy loons!  Heath typically bathes the kids and I do some cleaning from dinner, pack lunches for the next day and get bags in order.
7:00 p.m.:  Read books, sing songs, prayers and bed for the kids

I love that our kids go to bed early.  It gives Heath and I some time together and/or some personal time if the other has plans with friends.  I've found that my kids well rested are super fun to be around.  Not well rested?  Not so much fun to be around!

So, what do you think?  Stay-at-home mom, or do you have a better title for me?