How to be a SAHM

That's Stay At Home Mom, for those of you unfamiliar with the current parenting lingo. Although, technically, since I still do some consulting, most of the time I am part-time WAHM, or Work At Home Mom, the challenging part for me is really the being at home part, "working" or not. Because, when you are at home with one or more children, you are always working, as anyone who has ever tried it can tell you.

So, before we left Kosovo to come to Egypt, I started a list to remind myself of lessons learned from my time in Pristina. It was titled something like, "How Not to Go Crazy" and it went like this:

1. Take a shower
2. Get dressed
3. Drink coffee
4. Eat meals
5. Leave the house

Sounds like just the bare minimum for an normal person's day, right? But, I found that doing those five things every day were often an unsurmountable challenge for me during the course of a day spent taking care of the babies. There were many days where afternoon nap time would come around and we would all still be in our PJs, cheerios crushed in our hair, the house a mess of legos and baby ernie dolls  and all I had eaten was a Cola Zero and half a bag of Doritos. Of course, those days were also filled with many moments of joy: dancing, finger painting, making cupcakes, cooing, cuddling and reading picture books.

BUT, on the days when I managed a shower before the babies were up, oh, what I difference it made. Then, if I managed to get us all out the door in the mornings, especially if I met up with a friend at the cafe in the park (macchiato! adult conversation!), those days were especially good. Fresh air, walks outside, playing with the kids at the park, caffeine, all these are happy-making things for me.

The other essential key to happiness for me is a clean house and kitchen full of fresh food, especially lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Of course, all of the above are made much easier if I have someone to come to the house to help out from time to time. While it's easy to find great produce in Cairo, we haven't found a nanny yet but we're working on that.

Eventually, for us, there is a rhythm that develops, a loose routine that guides us through the days. Of course, there are still days that I am counting down the minutes until Matt walks in the door. But, even on those days, there are moments of perfect contentment, despite the chaos. I remind myself that this time passes quickly and that even though I don't have much "me" time right now, this too will pass.

So, that's what I've figured out so far.  Wanted to jot it down here as a reminder to myself, in nothing else. Matt is in Jordan for a week. We are getting over colds and the house is a mess. Wish me luck!