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stay-home mom

Father Inc, how i pretend to be a cool mum, the breast things in life are free

What’s better than bringing home the bacon? Being home with the bacon.

March 26, 2010

Daddy’s been home these two weeks, the longest break he’s had since he started work. I heart having daddy around at home, he does all the manly stuff like cleaning poop and yelling at the kids while I sleep in. In case you missed that, I actually said sleep in. That’s like the Holy Grail of motherhood. And you would think that it’s going to feel overrated after you have it but oh no, it. is. good.

I can really get used to this, not having to do everything on my own. A 2:2 (two-parent to two-kid) ratio is so much easier because we can divide and conquer. One to hold the fort while the other takes five.

I’ve also noticed that the kids are closer to Kel whenever he’s at home. Tru asks for daddy all the time and he shouts for “dad-dyyyyy” in that sweet baby voice, which is a relief because I can escape diaper changes but I’m also bummed about being displaced as his favorite person.

I know boys need a strong, masculine presence to give them security and all but I miss that special look he used to give me like I’m everything he needs. Now everything is morphing into something once in a while and soon it’ll be “mommmm, don’t kiss me in public anymore, it’s WEIRD and EMBARRASSING!”

I hate to break it to you, kid, but momma’s going to kiss you till you’re 65. Maybe not all over because that would be weird. But kiss you, I will.

We’re all going to be a little sad when daddy goes back to work next week. Tru’s going to throw a hissy fit when I have to tell him that “daddy’s at work, sweetheart”. Baby girl will look all forlorn again. Momma will cry a little and maybe dust under the sink for a place to hide.

But we’ve got three days left, right about the time where you start to feel the blues sinking in. The last few days of any holiday are always bittersweet because at the back of your mind, you’ll always be thinking about how it’s going to suck after. That’s why the last three days of our honeymoon was spent in Disneyland so we wouldn’t have time to sit around and mope.

Three more days and I’m going to par-ty like it’s 1999. We’ve got Kirsten’s baby dedication and a wedding coming up so it’s going to be fun. Hopefully we’ll have some good pics for you guys. Here’s one first, for the record.

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motherhood

Absolutely Priceless Mommy Moments

July 8, 2009

The one question that I ask myself everyday as a stay home mom is “WHY IN THE WORLD AM I DOING THIS?” Especially on particularly bad days where the house is a mess, I’ve got crazy hair and Tru is driving me up the wall, that question pops up at least 4-5 times. I could have been chilling out at a proper job, sipping my lattes and having some decent conversation with proper adults.

And if not for all the little moments that make me stop and go “awww…”, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.

Here’s my list of Classic Moments as a Mom:

1. The way Tru giggles his head off at the most banal, mundane things like Mommy folding clothes or changing the sheets. Once in a while, he’ll even try to help.

2. Sometimes he’ll be all engrossed with his toys, but he’ll suddenly stop, look up and flash me a giant grin.

3. The look of delight and annoyance when I smother him with kisses. He’ll be all like “Moommm, I’m a big boy now… but here, you missed a spot”

4. When Tru wakes up in the morning, he’ll press his cheeks against mine and then start shouting in my ear.

5. No matter how much discomfort he’s in, he’ll still try to suck it up and bear with it.

6. The look on his face after he wakes up from a really long nap.

Classic

Classic

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kids inc

The Bane of Babysitters

July 1, 2009

For the most part, I love being a stay home mom. I’ve pretty much gotten my groove with Tru and the housework and the blog and the rest of the other 15 jobs I hold down. My day runs like clockwork from the time I get up at 7-ish and by the time I get to bed at a little past midnight, I like to give myself a pat on the back for the awesome job I’ve done.

The only thing is that unlike most mothers who can take the occasional night off and leave the kid(s) with the maid, we’ve got to factor Tru in for all our activities. Occasionally, my mom and my sis will watch him for the night, but that’s a trump card I try to save for the really urgent stuff like movies (hey, it’s the only entertainment I’ve got these days) and all.

Without a maid at home, our other option is to get a babysitter in for the night while we take a break. But getting a good babysitter is like striking the lottery. First of all, there aren’t that many of those around for me to pick from. After trawling the online classifieds, I realized that there are 2 kinds of babysitters available.

1. Really old women (usually retirees past the age of 60)

 

old babysitter

old babysitter

Most of those in this group require you to drop your kid off at their place (I’m guessing its too much of a hassle for them to travel) and the curfew is usually by 10 or 11 at night. No disrespect to older folks, but they usually stuff them with candy and make them watch TV to keep them occupied for the night.

And I’m afraid the intensity of looking after a kid with ADD and a sugar high may cause a mild cardiac arrest for the elderly ones, which would result in a complete nightmare rather than a night off.

2. Really young girls (usually teenagers with NO kid experience)

 

young babysitter

They don’t mind coming over to your place to watch the kid, but they probably got everything they know about babies from movies like Juno and Knocked Up. I could be paranoid here, but chances are, they’ll dump the kid in his cot and blast angsty music over my stereo to drown out the screams for the better part of the night.

The rest of the time, they’ll be on the phone with some dude they’re too young to be seeing anyway. And that’s if I’m lucky. On a bad day, I might end up with one who’ll invite the dude over to hanky panky on the couch.

I could be wrong here, but I’m reluctant to go with babysitters unless I’m really desperate.

Then while talking to a friend one day, she suggested a really cool idea. I could get some of my married-and-may-eventually-have-kids friends to come over to watch Tru under the excuse of giving them some hands-on experience with a real kid. So it’ll be a win-win situation. We get to take a night off with total peace of mind and also do a kind deed. I mean, having actual experience with a kid is underrated. Which also explains why post-natal depression is on the rise, cos new mothers are not prepared for the intensity of taking care of an screaming baby.

So tonight, we’ll be out galavanting till the wee hours of the night while some friends come over to watch Tru. My plan is to tire him out completely in the day so he’ll be sedated (if not passed out from exhaustion) by the time it hits 7pm.

I think it’s going to be so much fun (for me, at least). It’ll be like my swan song before I pop.

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