My Dream Job :: Kissing Boo Boos & Running Carpool

Being a stay-at-home mom is my dream job. I knew this from the day my daughter was born 11 years ago. While I enjoy being in the work force with my current job, I long to be at home with my kids. I often daydream about days spent taking my kids to a mommy-and-me activity, planning fun crafts, having lunch with them at school, visiting the library, or snuggling on the couch watching an episode of their favorite Nick Jr. cartoon.  

I’m the kind of person that puts my all into everything that I do. Before having children, I loved teaching and really thought that I would retire a schoolteacher. Something changed in me when my kids were born though, and I wanted to put my all into being an awesome mom. Both my husband and I were educators, so we couldn’t afford for one parent not to work. I remember staying out for the maximum amount of maternity leave {3 months}, and I absolutely LOVED the time that I spent staying at home with the kids. I cried when I returned to work, and I had major separation anxiety from not being with them.  

Fast forward several years.

My Dream Job :: Kissing Boo Boos & Running Carpool | Houston Moms Blog

My kids, except for my foster baby, are now all in school, and my desire to be a SAHM still hasn’t changed. I’ve been trying to find a happy middle ground where I can be both working mom but still achieve what SAHMs get to do with their children. And those dreams have expanded as I realize all of the opportunities being a SAHM grants…

Perfecting My Lunch Game

There are many memorable moments and a few epic failures, like the time I attempted to make fun bento box lunches for my kids. My kids bring a lunch from home every day. The lunch lines are way too long, and they barely have any time to eat once they sit down. One day I made them a bear-shaped sandwich, packed some extra large M&Ms, a “Cutie,” fresh watermelon, and a personalized note saying how much I loved them. It took some time to put 4 of these together that morning, but it looked absolutely adorable.

At work I imagined their faces as they opened their lunch boxes at school, and it was the first thing I asked them about when I came home from work. They all looked at me and asked what I had made them for lunch that day because they couldn’t tell what it was. WHAT?! So it turns out that the watermelon juice mixed with the M&Ms, causing the color to bleed onto the sandwich and Cutie, making them look gray and moldy. The two older kids ate their lunches regardless, but the two little ones didn’t touch it. I was crushed when I opened the little ones’ lunches to see how it looked; I wouldn’t have eaten it either! I didn’t give up on fun lunches for my kids after that day, but I did get the proper bento box lunch box to avoid this from happening again.

Keeping Up My House

The hubby and kids really do try to pitch in and do their part, and I’m so thankful for them. But I would love to keep my house clean and organized the way I would like it to be. Many days I come home so tired that I can’t even bear to look at the dirty dishes in the sink or the massive pile of laundry accumulating in the hamper. So when I do clean, it turns into this crazy cleaning day with 7 loads of laundry, sweeping, then swiffering and mopping, followed by screaming at the kids to put on socks so they don’t leave streaks on my clean floor. There’s something about clean floors that makes my children go crazy, and they think it’s the perfect time to play tag and chase each other around the house or eat dry cereal and leave a trail wherever they go.  

Building On My Creativity

I really wish that I could be a SAHM with more time to practice my sewing and baking. I typically start thinking about costumes months in advance so that they can be completed by Halloween. I enjoy baking goodies for the teachers when I know a holiday or celebration is approaching, and I have a teacher at the kids’ school that is really great about reminding me about upcoming events so that I don’t drop the ball. When I have to bake, I try to make things that I can prep ahead of time and just throw into the oven that day. Can you imagine what I could create if I had the time to work on it while the kids are at school?

I’ve also got a list of goals I want to achieve like taking a real sewing course and photography lessons so that I can capture my kids’ memories. I want to learn sign language so that I can help communicate/translate, and I dream of writing a recipe book.

The Simple Gift of Time

One of the highlights of my day is picking up the kids at dismissal. I love hearing them yell, “Mommy!” because they are happy to see me and listening to them talk about their days all at once. When I’m stuck at work, I worry if they were picked up on time, if they had a good day, did they start on homework, etc. Dismissal time is usually when I start telling myself that I wished I could be a stay-at-home mom.

Juggling work, being involved in each kid’s school life, and holding down the fort at home leaves me pretty exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow. I truly believe that I wouldn’t be so tired if I had time to spread everything out and not attempt to cram homework, projects, picking the kids up from extracurriculars, cooking dinner, rocking the baby to sleep, signing school papers, cleaning the kitchen, and having quality time with the kids into a 5 hour time period after they get home from school.    

The time that I do get to be at home, I spend it loving on my family and cherishing every moment of it. Many times I AM tired, but I find such joy in all that I do for my family. My kids are growing up too quickly for me, and I want to be there to kiss every boo-boo, hear all about their day, laugh at their jokes, make them dinner, and nurture them into incredible little people. One of these days, I will achieve that goal of being a stay-at-home mom.

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Christine N
Christine was raised in Houston almost all her life, but currently resides in Sugar Land with her family. She graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Houston and taught elementary school for eight wonderful years.  She met her husband Martin while they both were teaching CCE at a local parish.  Together they have five beautiful children Madison {September 2005}, Caden {April 2007}, Cohen {April 2008}, Mason {August 2009}, and Anna-Marie {November 2016}.  Christine is also a self-taught baker, cake designer, and owner of The Sweet Boutique Bakery.  In 2016, her family felt a huge calling to open up their hearts and home to fostering babies.  When Christine isn’t juggling work, being an active school mom, or caring for her foster baby, you will find her creating DIY home projects, crafting, party planning, baking with her kids, and traveling with her family.  You can read more of her family shenanigans on The Sweet Boutique's Blog.

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