What I Miss About Being a Stay at Home Mom

Although I love my job and have incredible boss families, there are a whole lot of things that I miss about being a stay at home mom.  There are generally two kinds of working moms (and NEITHER is better).  The first kind of working mom is thankful to get out of the house, enjoy her time away, and socialize in the work place.  This working mom is often known to say, "Even if I didn't HAVE to work, I'd still want to."  They've worked hard to get where they are and they enjoy what they do. They strike a balance that they're happy with between work and home life and their older children are accustomed to mommy working.  They're proud of what Mommy accomplishes and they are very matter of fact when they speak about Mommy's job. (Of course this is generalized and, yes, there are always exceptions).
The second kind of working mom is working only because she has to.  It's not to lead a lavish lifestyle or to party.  This working mom would stay home if she had the chance.  This working mom leaves the house every day wanting to be there with her kids.  Does she enjoy her job and the break? Probably.  Does she relish in some of the perks of being a working mom like getting breaks?  Probably.  Does she love getting to see the happy faces of the kids running towards her when she walks in/picks them up?  Yes!  Would she trade all of that to be the one that's with them all of the time?  Definitely.  This is the kind of working mom category that I fall into.
With all of that being said, here are some of the things I miss about being a stay at home mom:

1.  TIME.  Ah precious time.  I miss not having the ability to put things off for an hour.  I have to accomplish things in such a short time span when I'm not working.  Everything is crammed into a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours at night.  I miss having the wiggle room to move things around and do "this" now and "that" later.  Right now I have to smash "this" and "that" into a fifteen minute period and it's no longer about getting it right...it's about getting it done.

2.  THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE QUALITY TIME:  By the time I get home at night, it's homework and dinner and showers and bed.  Yes, I have my weekends but those are generally spent, at least in part, running around doing the things I didn't have the time to do during the week.  It's a vicious circle.  I miss having the ability to go volunteer at their school more.  I miss having the ability to go shoot some photos for a friend just because.  I miss having the ability to fit in workouts without worrying about damaging my health by getting even LESS sleep.  I miss being the one to say, "C'mon guys.  Let's stay on task and get this homework done."  I miss being the one that sets up the sprinkler for them and then snaps shots of them gleefully running through in the summer.  I miss the quality time.

3.  COOKING FOOD FROM SCRATCH MORE OFTEN:  I miss this most of all, I think, because it combined quality time, health and something I actually love to do.  I miss cooking from scratch all of the time.  I loathe having to cook quick meals.  I miss making homemade cinnamon rolls or buttermilk biscuits or bread....dear Lord, homemade bread!  I miss it!  It's healthier, often more budget friendly and it's soooo worth it.

4.  BEING THE ONE THAT'S HOME WITH THEM WHEN THEY'RE SICK.  I know.  It's ironic to miss this but it's true.  I miss being the one that cuddles them and brings them ramen or empties their puke buckets.  I miss being the one who rewets their washcloth to make sure it's keeping their little heads cool.  I miss that!

5.  BEING ABLE TO BE SPONTANEOUS.  Yes, I'm a planner to the core, but I miss being able to pick up and go get ice cream with the kids without worrying about disrupting their schedules and them not getting enough sleep for school the next dy.  I miss being able to say, "Screw it...let's do the zoo today."  I miss it!

If someone offered me the opportunity tomorrow to still bring in enough income, be financially stable and be self-employed (work from home) or be a stay at home mom, I think I'd yank it up immediately.  You see, I love my job but I love my family more :)