Confessions of a Swim Widow/Stay At Home Mom

Let me preface this by saying I truly love my children.  They are the most precious gifts I could have ever been given in life.  Gabbie is the sweetest, most sensitive and thoughtful child, while Kiernan is so cute you can't help but pick him up and kiss him all over.

However, if you know me, you know I tell it like it is and try my best to be realistic.

The reality is, I am NOT a Stay at Home Mom.  Nope, not even for a moment would I entertain the idea.   If I were a full time SAHM, I would eventually be that person you see on the 5 o'clock news being taken away in a straight jacket.

Seriously, how do SAHMs do it?

How about single moms?

Not only that, how about single moms of multiple children?!

I, myself, fall into the Swim Widow category right now, which means I am a semi-single SAHM.

I spent the first 5 days of summer up in NY with the kids as well as 2 five hour drives in the car with them.  This had already drained my patience. 

I am currently on day 2 at home(ONLY day 2!) and I am already at my wits end.
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Yesterday was ok and the evening went well.  However by this morning, my patience had worn so thin that today's adventures led to me biting my tongue many times.  I am surprised it didn't bleed or even come off completely.

Today we:
1.  Went to Kiernan's ENT appointment.
The exam room was warm so doing Kiernan and Gabbie damage control didn't necessarily put me in the best mood.

His post-op check-up went well and is good to go with his tubes.  We needed to get his hearing checked but were unable to get any results from him since he squirmed too much.  We will try again at the end of the summer.

At the reception desk, I was trying to keep an eye on the kids while paying.  That's when I realized the honey colored fluff ball wasn't in my line of sight anymore.  I knew he couldn't have gone far since I was blocking the exit.  However, Gabbie and I couldn't find him anywhere. 

Finally, I saw the 2 foot tall bandit flee from one empty exam room to another.  I grabbed him and off we went..

2.  Off to the Supermarket
I decided to get one of those fun car carts(my personal nemesis), hoping that would keep the kid's interest as I shopped at the speed of light.  Well, not exactly the speed of light.  It was more like slow dripping molasses(but I desparately wish I had the ability to shop at the speed of light).

We did ok until we hit the cold cut counter.  I should have done the automated kiosk so I could keep shopping while they did my order, but since there was no one there I decided to take my chances.

I somehow managed to get the slowest cold cut lady in the world, so by item number 3, I had already lost the two of them.

This was when I picked up the pace and moved a little faster, while Gabbie was busy trying to keep up with me (at least it kept her from wandering off.)

We were in the last aisle and I was down to 2 items left. 

This was when Kiernan made his escape.  I was grabbing something when I found him picking up a carton of eggs.  I quickly ran over to save the carton.  He then started hauling big tubs of yogurt into his car.  While putting those back, Kiernan had run down the aisle and was pulling cheese from the shelf.  At the same time, Gabbie is whining that we didn't get to pick her yogurt out yet and that we needed to go back.

I threw him in the car, grabbed her yogurt and headed to checkout. 

On the way out, as if Kiernan wasn't fussy enough, Gabbie realizes she needs to go poo poo. Great! 
If you know Gabbie, you know this was not going to be a quick potty break.
Parking the cart, we run for the bathroom.  He is ecstatic to be out of the cart and is running around the bathroom.  He is way too heavy to hold for that amount of time, so I cringe as he touches everything.  I slowly formulate my plan of attack for sanitizing him in the sink when Gabbie is finished.

Hands cleaned, Kiernan sanitized, kids in the car, we headed for home.

By noon, I was physically/mentally exhausted. 
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I know many of you moms out there have similar war stories of your own.  I also know these "active" day trips aren't the norm. But still, how am I going to keep my sanity all summer if this is how I am now?
It's not that my kids were being bad.  It's that my patience is nill and I see no relief in sight.

I confess!

I secretly wish that my kids were in daycare at least part-time. 
I secretly hope summer goes quickly. 
I secretly miss working and it has only been a week.
I secretly yearn for a selfish 24 hours to myself.  (No children, no dog, no husband, no cleaning, no errands, just me relaxing and wasting the day away.)

There, I said it.  I feel better now.

Now that you have heard these confessions, I want you to know, I do love my family and feel VERY blessed.  But after this week, it is apparent why THIS mom was not meant to be a SAHM.

Score:
Mom 0  Kids  2