SAHM #2 of Mommy Chronicles

Up this friday, we have a friend of mine with 2 children and her husband is deployed right now. BIG HUGS and lots of love momma...

For this one, I didn't include questions because she wrote in a way that it just flows as a conversation :)

You can read about Katie here and how this all started here.

I am a SAHM, formerly an elementary teacher. Teaching was WAY easier than mommying.

Right now, it's the best choice for our family so that we don't have to pay for two girls to be in day care.

My favorite thing to do with our girls is to play together. We love to go to gymnastics and just bounce on the trampoline.

I do love playing with the girls, but it is a constant balance between keeping up with cleaning, dishes, laundry, etc.

My time is everyday from 9-10:30 pm. I usually take a hot shower, watch TLC, message my husband on FB, and do something mindless like play on Facebook. I have an absolutely wonderful neighbor who has fun girls nights at her house. I am able to put the girls to bed, take the baby monitor and chat with adults!

I do lose my patience with the girls and it does worry me that I will negatively influence my daughters and make them have poor attitudes.

If I had a day off, I would shop, get a massage, and drink lots of Starbucks.

One of the most embarrassing things was when my 17 month old jumped off our computer chair and broke her arm. I was putting in a load of laundry at the time and my hubby was packing for his deployment. I just kept thinking I should've been there to catch her.

My youngest is a handful and we had a delayed flight where she just acted ridiculous-rolling in the aisles, taking other kids toys, eating food off the airplane floor, pulling strangers hair, it was lovely.

When my husband is home, he helps clean up dinner dishes and then wrestles and tickles the girls while I wrap up the kitchen. I do feel overwhelmed with cleaning. It seems like I clean something and it's immediately dirtied by a munchkin. I don't think he understands how the house reflects me like his work reflects him. It would be awesome if he would pitch in more with just picking up those annoying little piles that accumulate, put away laundry, and unloading the dishwasher.

I think there is so much controversy because we ALL have guilt. If I go to work, I feel guilty because I am not home with my kids all day. If I stay home, I am concerned that I am negatively influencing them or not doing enough to teach them, or focusing too much on the house instead of parenting them. The list goes on. I think everyone has to do what's right for them.

Motherhood is way harder than I expected. I am having to let go of things that I swore I would never do. I thought letting children watch TV was of the devil. I followed that philosophy with our first child, but with the birth of our second child and our three year old giving up naps simultaneously, I reconsidered. I gave in and let her watch an hour of Sesame Street while the little one napped. I got a break and was a better mommy for the rest of the day! She not only survived, she learned to count!