Oh gosh, when do I have time to blog?
It's after 11pm here in the eastern side of the United States. My two kids are tucked into bed and my sick husband is as well. It seems he has caught a cold and after feeling miserable all day the poor guy took some night-time medicine and couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. So here I sit, wide awake, trying to come up with something interesting to write about.
Well, we are now in a new season. Fall. I love fall. As much as I enjoy the hotter temperatures I'm glad to see the cooler weather make it's appearance. I love how the leaves change colors. I love pumpkin picking with the family and everything pumpkin flavored (especially Pumpkin Spice cappuccino). I love the option of wearing jeans and a t-shirt or jeans and a sweatshirt. It truly is a magnificent season with so much to look forward to like the holiday season that's fast approaching. It won't be long before we'll be storing my autumn decorations back into the attic and sorting through all of the Christmas stuff. For now, I will enjoy the fall.
With this season came a big change for us. Our oldest son, four year old Matthew, started preschool. He only attends a total of 7.5 hours per week but it's enough to teach him so much. At home I've worked with him on learning the alphabet, how to recognize the letters, write the letters, counting numbers, recognizing numbers and writing numbers. He has done well with me but is doing outstanding with the teachers at school. My husband and I are both so glad we decided to put him in preschool. Since starting school he has learned the days of the week and the months of the year. Yes, I somehow overlooked that one here at home. He already knew his colors and shapes; learned that before the age of two. Now his interest is in rhyming words. He will often ask me things like, "Mommy, does 'Bake' and 'Cake' sound alike?"
The first day of school was a bit of a challenge for me. I know it seems silly because he's only in preschool. I can't imagine what my reaction will be next year when I send him on the bus for his first day of kindergarten. Ugh. Anyway, from the moment he put his Super Mario Brothers backpack on for the first time it was as if he instantly grew. No longer a baby. No longer a toddler. A preschooler. Where did the last four, almost five, years go? It's bittersweet. Throughout my entire life I've always heard adults mutter the words "They grow up fast." Now I know exactly what that means and I keep reminding myself of that. It won't be long before high school graduation, or possibly sending them off to college. It won't be long before I'm watching them stand before their future spouse saying wedding vows or holding my grandchild for the first time. So for now I'm going to enjoy this season. It's not going to last forever.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
First Birthday Fun
We celebrated with a few family members and close friends at the house last weekend. Little Brianna didn't know what to make of it but she did very well with being the center of attention. The house was decorated in a 1st Birthday Princess theme and we fed our guests pizza and, of course, cake. She wore the birthday tutu her grandparents bought her for this special occasion. It was fun!
On her actual birthday we spoiled her with presents and a trip to the mall to get her ears pierced. She didn't necessarily like that experience too much but she looks like such an angel with those gold hearts with a pink sapphire in the middle. I love having a little girl!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Life As A Stay-At-Home Mom
As soon as my husband and I discussed the idea of starting a family he said, "I will try and do what I can to make sure you stay home with them." He was very adamant about it. I was delighted that my husband was willing to allow me to do such a thing; however, it didn't seem realistic at the time. We had recently purchased a house and aside from the mortgage had a tremendous amount of bills piling up. How were we going to make this work on one income?
Willingly and inarguably my husband, who was already a full-time accountant, picked up a second job. I hated the fact that he had so much financial pressure built on him but it was solely his decision and he didn't want it any other way. Then in 2007 our first blessing came into the world. It didn't make sense for me to return to work after my maternity leave had ended. Most, if not all, of my salary would have ended up going to daycare or a private babysitter. It just didn't make sense to return to the job. So I quit and became a stay-at-home mom.
I will confess this has been a hard transition for me. I was so used to rushing out the door in the morning and spent 8 hours a day surrounded by adults, paperwork and lots of gossip (I hate gossip so leaving that behind was pretty spectacular). My life became excessive diaper changes, feedings and trying to calm down a fussy baby, with no breaks. I had little time to myself and no adult interaction. It was often frustrating but I knew for my son, and now daughter too, it's beneficial and the best thing I can offer them at this time.
In order to make being a SAHM (the acronym for Stay-At-Home Mom) work we've had to make a lot of sacrifices. Neither of us own a Smart phone, a brand new car and only eat out occasionally. We clip coupons and try to buy items only if they are on sale. I use cloth diapers on my daughter, not consistently but every time we are at home. Not having to run out and buy disposable diapers all the time saves us a huge load of money. Materialistic things aren't of importance to neither me or my husband. If we can live without it then we don't need it.
Even though we've had to make plenty of sacrifices in order to make our one-income lifestyle work it's been extremely worth it. I enjoy being my children's caregiver 24/7. I have experienced every milestone, kissed every boo boo, and wiped every teary eye so far. It has been a joy being able to stay with them each and every day but we do experience those bad days. Admittedly, a bad day at home is better than a horrible day in an outside job. Yes, it does get monotonous and mundane at times but it's been such an awarding experience for me and my children.
Aside from all this, I have nothing but the utmost respect for those working mothers too. I have heard several of my friends say they wish they could stay at home with their children. I admit there are times when I wish I could go to work so I could have that break and also help with the financial end of things. The plan is that once both children are in school full-time I will return to the working world, and possibly sooner if I can find something that won't interfere with my husband's schedule or the time we get to spend as a family. Whether you're a stay-at-home mom or a working mom the choice is yours. Some families need to have that extra income and the mothers have no choice. Some moms, who do have a choice, decide it's better for them to work so they can have that money for leisure or save it for their child's college education (and we all know how expensive college is. Yikes). I admire any mother and the decisions they make.
With that being said, there are also a lot of misconceptions about stay-at-home mothers as there is with working mothers. Here are a few I find amusing and my response:
We are lazy. We sleep in and then spend all day watching television. I had more of an opportunity to be lazy before I had children. I may take a few minutes throughout the day to check my email, Facebook and blog but most of my day is spent caring for the children and cleaning the house. My daughter is awake every morning by 6 am. If I'm lucky she'll stay in bed until 6:30 am. That's not what I call sleeping in. From there I'm on my feet doing all I can to make sure my children and the house are taken care of. When the television is on it's PBS, Nick Jr. or The Disney Channel. When my kids are napping the TV is turned off because by that point I'm sick of seeing it. The only TV viewing I watch is in the evening with my husband once the kids are tucked into bed. That's my relaxation time but by then I'm too tired to enjoy it.
The house must be spotless since we're always home. The house is never spotless because it's always lived in. I can spend a lot of time during the day cleaning but by the end of the day it looks like I haven't touched a thing. I have yet to find a way to maintain a clean home while making sure all the kids needs are met. In the meantime, it often looks like a tornado blew through here.
Only rich people can be stay-at-home mothers. No, as I've stated before, we sacrifice.
We don't do anything important. I guess raising our children isn't important? I spend the day teaching my children everything that is essential in order to make it into the real world independently someday. Of course a working mother does that too but this is something that is solely left up to me without help from others.
Without being in daycare the children will not have social skills. This is about as dumb as when I hear people say kids who are home schooled don't get social skills either. Even though we are at home with our children there are plenty of ways and opportunities to give our children the socializing they need whether it be with play groups, preschool or some type of sports program. It's up to the parents to decide when and if the children get to interact with others and how much they get to do so.
I have been enjoying my time with my children immensely. I see how quickly they are both growing up. In a few months our son Matthew will begin preschool and our daughter Brianna will be celebrating her first birthday. There will be a time when they are in school and then off on their own as adults and I want to be able to look back on this time and know I did the right thing.
Willingly and inarguably my husband, who was already a full-time accountant, picked up a second job. I hated the fact that he had so much financial pressure built on him but it was solely his decision and he didn't want it any other way. Then in 2007 our first blessing came into the world. It didn't make sense for me to return to work after my maternity leave had ended. Most, if not all, of my salary would have ended up going to daycare or a private babysitter. It just didn't make sense to return to the job. So I quit and became a stay-at-home mom.
I will confess this has been a hard transition for me. I was so used to rushing out the door in the morning and spent 8 hours a day surrounded by adults, paperwork and lots of gossip (I hate gossip so leaving that behind was pretty spectacular). My life became excessive diaper changes, feedings and trying to calm down a fussy baby, with no breaks. I had little time to myself and no adult interaction. It was often frustrating but I knew for my son, and now daughter too, it's beneficial and the best thing I can offer them at this time.
In order to make being a SAHM (the acronym for Stay-At-Home Mom) work we've had to make a lot of sacrifices. Neither of us own a Smart phone, a brand new car and only eat out occasionally. We clip coupons and try to buy items only if they are on sale. I use cloth diapers on my daughter, not consistently but every time we are at home. Not having to run out and buy disposable diapers all the time saves us a huge load of money. Materialistic things aren't of importance to neither me or my husband. If we can live without it then we don't need it.
Even though we've had to make plenty of sacrifices in order to make our one-income lifestyle work it's been extremely worth it. I enjoy being my children's caregiver 24/7. I have experienced every milestone, kissed every boo boo, and wiped every teary eye so far. It has been a joy being able to stay with them each and every day but we do experience those bad days. Admittedly, a bad day at home is better than a horrible day in an outside job. Yes, it does get monotonous and mundane at times but it's been such an awarding experience for me and my children.
Aside from all this, I have nothing but the utmost respect for those working mothers too. I have heard several of my friends say they wish they could stay at home with their children. I admit there are times when I wish I could go to work so I could have that break and also help with the financial end of things. The plan is that once both children are in school full-time I will return to the working world, and possibly sooner if I can find something that won't interfere with my husband's schedule or the time we get to spend as a family. Whether you're a stay-at-home mom or a working mom the choice is yours. Some families need to have that extra income and the mothers have no choice. Some moms, who do have a choice, decide it's better for them to work so they can have that money for leisure or save it for their child's college education (and we all know how expensive college is. Yikes). I admire any mother and the decisions they make.
With that being said, there are also a lot of misconceptions about stay-at-home mothers as there is with working mothers. Here are a few I find amusing and my response:
We are lazy. We sleep in and then spend all day watching television. I had more of an opportunity to be lazy before I had children. I may take a few minutes throughout the day to check my email, Facebook and blog but most of my day is spent caring for the children and cleaning the house. My daughter is awake every morning by 6 am. If I'm lucky she'll stay in bed until 6:30 am. That's not what I call sleeping in. From there I'm on my feet doing all I can to make sure my children and the house are taken care of. When the television is on it's PBS, Nick Jr. or The Disney Channel. When my kids are napping the TV is turned off because by that point I'm sick of seeing it. The only TV viewing I watch is in the evening with my husband once the kids are tucked into bed. That's my relaxation time but by then I'm too tired to enjoy it.
The house must be spotless since we're always home. The house is never spotless because it's always lived in. I can spend a lot of time during the day cleaning but by the end of the day it looks like I haven't touched a thing. I have yet to find a way to maintain a clean home while making sure all the kids needs are met. In the meantime, it often looks like a tornado blew through here.
Only rich people can be stay-at-home mothers. No, as I've stated before, we sacrifice.
We don't do anything important. I guess raising our children isn't important? I spend the day teaching my children everything that is essential in order to make it into the real world independently someday. Of course a working mother does that too but this is something that is solely left up to me without help from others.
Without being in daycare the children will not have social skills. This is about as dumb as when I hear people say kids who are home schooled don't get social skills either. Even though we are at home with our children there are plenty of ways and opportunities to give our children the socializing they need whether it be with play groups, preschool or some type of sports program. It's up to the parents to decide when and if the children get to interact with others and how much they get to do so.
I have been enjoying my time with my children immensely. I see how quickly they are both growing up. In a few months our son Matthew will begin preschool and our daughter Brianna will be celebrating her first birthday. There will be a time when they are in school and then off on their own as adults and I want to be able to look back on this time and know I did the right thing.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Introduction
I have been writing short stories and poetry since early childhood. Although I admit my grammar can use some work I have always enjoyed taking myself out of my own reality and creating a new world with fictional characters and stories. Then in 2002 I was introduced to the blogging community and have been doing it ever since. My other site is set to private and only viewable by a select few. I put a lot of personal information and family pictures on there. I decided to create another blogging page; one that I can leave open to the public.
I should start this page off by writing about myself. I am your typical thirty-something year old woman who lives on the eastern part of the United States. My favorite color is yellow and because my name is Dawn (break of day) I decided to title this page "A Little Bit of Sunshine."
I was born in the late 1970's on Long Island, New York to a police officer and housewife. I'm the youngest of four children. At the age of thirteen, almost fourteen, my parents decided to sell the house because the cost of living in New York was becoming unbearable for them. The house sold quickly, our things were packed and the three of us (because my brother and sisters were old enough to stay and live on their own) headed to Pennsylvania. I started 8th grade in a new state with a bunch of strangers. It wasn't easy but I made it work the best I could. Depression took over for many years but I did all I could to make sure I was spending the teen and young adult years as normal as possible. The move was the hardest experience of my life but somehow when becoming old enough to be on my own I decided to stay in the Keystone State.
I went to the local community college for one semester to study English/Journalism but, for reasons I won't share, that didn't work out well. So after deciding to give myself another chance I enrolled in business school which led me to meet the man I later married. We started off as friends for a few years but at one point the two of us agreed that we couldn't live without each other. In the spring of 2002 we were married.
I have never known another man quite like my husband. From the moment he and I started hanging out he always went out of his way for me and always wanted to see me happy and did all he could to make that happen. Also, he never cared about what others thought of him and never pretended to be anything else but himself. He taught me to be the same way. There are no words to describe how much I love him and how much I appreciate all he does for me and our family.
We bought our first house in 2005, then welcomed our first child Matthew into the world in 2007. Our family wasn't complete until our second child Brianna entered the world in 2011. I had worked in an office full-time until Matthew was born and I became a stay-at-home mother. I'm so blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity to stay home with my children and watch as they enter each milestone. It's a big job teaching and helping these children grow into the people God wants them to be and I love every minute of it. I wouldn't change a thing!
I should start this page off by writing about myself. I am your typical thirty-something year old woman who lives on the eastern part of the United States. My favorite color is yellow and because my name is Dawn (break of day) I decided to title this page "A Little Bit of Sunshine."
I was born in the late 1970's on Long Island, New York to a police officer and housewife. I'm the youngest of four children. At the age of thirteen, almost fourteen, my parents decided to sell the house because the cost of living in New York was becoming unbearable for them. The house sold quickly, our things were packed and the three of us (because my brother and sisters were old enough to stay and live on their own) headed to Pennsylvania. I started 8th grade in a new state with a bunch of strangers. It wasn't easy but I made it work the best I could. Depression took over for many years but I did all I could to make sure I was spending the teen and young adult years as normal as possible. The move was the hardest experience of my life but somehow when becoming old enough to be on my own I decided to stay in the Keystone State.
I went to the local community college for one semester to study English/Journalism but, for reasons I won't share, that didn't work out well. So after deciding to give myself another chance I enrolled in business school which led me to meet the man I later married. We started off as friends for a few years but at one point the two of us agreed that we couldn't live without each other. In the spring of 2002 we were married.
I have never known another man quite like my husband. From the moment he and I started hanging out he always went out of his way for me and always wanted to see me happy and did all he could to make that happen. Also, he never cared about what others thought of him and never pretended to be anything else but himself. He taught me to be the same way. There are no words to describe how much I love him and how much I appreciate all he does for me and our family.
We bought our first house in 2005, then welcomed our first child Matthew into the world in 2007. Our family wasn't complete until our second child Brianna entered the world in 2011. I had worked in an office full-time until Matthew was born and I became a stay-at-home mother. I'm so blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity to stay home with my children and watch as they enter each milestone. It's a big job teaching and helping these children grow into the people God wants them to be and I love every minute of it. I wouldn't change a thing!
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