Friday, December 18, 2009

Reality Check

Sometimes I forget that I am a SaHM. That's my job: being a Stay at Home Mom. Being Samuel and Emily's Mommy is my job. My job is not to keep the house clean at all times. My job is not to blog. My job is not to talk to Besties on the phone. My job is not ministry. My job is being Samuel and Emily's Mommy. Period.

Sometimes I forget that. In fact, most of the time I forget that.

So I bought a book (because I LOVE books) to help me remember. It is called "365 Games Toddlers Love to Play" and I went through page by page last night and bent the tops of corners on the pages I liked. And this morning I took it downstairs and we went to work on playing. Because Mommy doesn't do nearly enough playing. Mommy does a lot of laundry. Mommy does a lot of farting around. Mommy does a lot of wasting time on Facebook but Mommy doesn't spend a lot of time playing with her kiddos.

It was my night to put Samuel down tonight and as I prayed over him I realized I only have approximately 2 years left until he spends the majority of days with someone else. I will never, ever, ever get this time back. So I need to make the most of it.

When my kids grow up and think of their early childhood I want them to remember us playing games on the floor, painting, making obstacle courses with couch cushions and tickling. Lots of tickling. Chances are they will have few memories of these early years but the ones they do I want to be of me playing with them, not loading the dishwasher.

No worries, I'm not boycotting housework, Facebook or meal preparation. I'm simply going to try and be a little more accountable with my time, particularly my time with the midgets. This is my New Years Resolution. Starting 2.5 weeks early.

Because really, who wants to miss out on this?

Or this?


And especially not this.










5 comments:

Joy for the Seasons said...

You're singing my song.:)

Jennifer said...

Ok...so you probably know by now that I am TERRIBLE at leaving comments on blog posts...it's a huge fault of mine...but I wanted to give ya a big thank you for this post!!

I am super guilty of not "playing" with my boy!! In my defense, I've only been a SAHM for 10 months, but still, I have slacked in this area!!


Thank you for being open and honest!! And thank you for setting a good example!!

You rock sister!!

And your kiddos are A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. I hope to meet them in person one day!!

Anonymous said...

thanks for the reminder!!!
kim

Peggy said...

Good for you! I'm guilty of not spending enough time with my kids sometimes too. At the end of the day, I like to say we had fun. There may still be dishes in the sink, or laundry not out away but the kids and I had a blast pretending to be dinosaurs or going on an adventure walk. :0)

Traci Piltz said...

Loved this one! Since I work outside of the home, I sometimes feel super guilty about this. I find that I have to be really explicit in planning my time so that I don't come home and get too caught up in housework and dinner, and even "homework" stuff (piano, spelling words, etc.) that we forget to play a game or read a book or watch a show together.

As a kindergarten teacher, I can't stress enough the importance of play. So many kiddos come to school not having experience with imaginative play, or game playing. Some of my kindergartners have a really hard time sharing, taking turns, and being good sports because they haven't played games with their families. When we are out of balls at recess, or the jungle gym is full, they have NO IDEA what to do with themselves because they don't have experience using their imaginations to come up with their own games. Can you imagine a 5-year-old telling you that they are BORED at recess?!

So, I think it's important play with your kiddos, and also to teach them how to play by themselves and with each other as well. It is amazing how simple things make a big impact on our kiddos (and us)! :)