Last week I was in recovery mode. I took a full week off work to get through some things at home and spend time with Joel, my kiddos and my folks and turn off work for awhile.
And by ‘turn off’ I mean check my work emails via phone only every other hour instead of incessantly as I usually do. And I know every other hour is A LOT for someone who is supposed to be on vacation, but I hate to feel like I ever let anyone down. It’s the perfectionist in me. But really, I know I needed to unwind and unplug ~ I just have trouble doing that.
I tried my best.
Here’s where I spent Monday’s happy hour since the kids were with Joel’s mom:
We even bundled up and braved the rainy, snowy drizzle to see The Croods with the boys on Tuesday:
Packed a backpack full of some quiet toys in case Drew wasn’t into the movie. You never know what will hold a 2 year old’s attention long enough, but he did great! Crawled up into my lap and snuggled for the 2nd half of the movie, but didn’t freak out or fuss or get bored or over-stimulated.
Wednesday was a Me day.
A Venti Starbucks on my way to a nail appointment to settle into the morning. Everyone say, “ahhhhhhhhh” in a deep cleansing breath.
I can’t tell you how much I love a Barista who will put two cups on a Venti tea and the no-burn sleeve. I’ve actually gotten glares from some when I’ve asked for a 2nd cup before. I loved not even having to ask this time! Why, you ask? Kindergarten science experiment here for you folks: the water travels up the tea bag string and label and leaks all over the outside of the cup and dribbles into a messy pool of tea on your desk, hand or cup holder. If there are two cups, the Barista will tuck the tea bag string and label into the second cup and all remains well and dry. Not asking for much. Just sayin’.
My nail appointment was followed up by a quick trip to Loft (where they were hosting a 50% off flash sale that only lasted a couple hours!) and then to a much needed hair appointment. My colorist talked me into a chocolate brown with highlights which brightens up most of my complexion and she says will make me look younger and more refreshed. I think she was planning a dramatic change since the bags and circles under my eyes were surely dragging me down and making my black hair look blacker. I was too exhausted to argue so I let her do her thing.
I picked up the kids early from daycare (yes, they were in daycare on a day I had off because, welp, because Mommy needed a break! Hence, the title, wanna-be stay at home) and took advantage of the later sunshine to take Aiden for a long bike ride through the neighborhood.
Just me and him and the sunshine and his smiles.
I had to work this one out of him. He’s an over-filmed-camera-ready kid, that’s for sure. He’s been working on a fake camera smile recently, too. I’m so glad I got these natural looking ones out of him. Just a little coaxing and making funny sounds is all it took. Waaay better, more natural smiles come from him when I make silly sounds than when I just say, “say cheese!”
Thursday & Friday were days spent with my mom. She’s getting around much better since her total knee replacement surgery but is pretty frustrated that she can’t get her knee to bend to the angle her doc wants it at yet. She’s working her tail off though and is the strongest, fiercest, most courageous woman I know. It was also her birthday so I picked up the kids early from daycare again and we played in the yard and danced in the sunshine.
I also caved and made watered down, half sugar kool-aid.
We never (ok, maybe just once before, but that’s close enough to rarely never!) have kool-aid at our house, but since I had a few packets left over from dying Easter eggs, I decided to throw caution to the wind and let the boys have a taste of the dark side. Dangerous, I know.
And before you know it, a whole week had passed. And vacation was over.
I failed at being a stay-at-home mom.
1) because I sent the kids to daycare while I took care of a few ‘me’ things, visited with my mom and even threw in a happy hour
and
2) because I couldn’t turn off the email on my phone.
I really worry that I’m not stay-at-home material! I commend you stay-at-home mom’s, you manic multi-taskers with babies & kiddos surrounding your every move making it look easy! My hat is off to you! I, on the other hand, will remain a wanna be, for now.
Biggest Faker Ever,
~pw
