At the end of July our beloved Au Pair Daniele had to move back to Brazil. This meant we had no childcare for the rest of the month. So, I decided to take some time off this summer and spend it with my kids. Day after day I sit in my office on the computer and dream about what stay-at-home moms are doing. Their summer days must be filled with playgroups, trips to the gym, the park, the zoo, and the swimming pool. In the summer I am so jealous. I would do anything to be outside all day instead of strapped to a desk. Hanging out with my kids all day sounded like pure bliss! I longed to have the time to put a healthy meal on the table at a decent time each night and clean up my increasingly dirty house. Needless to say, I was excited to spend a few days not working and playing stay-at-home mom.
At first I had lofty goals. We planned a water party for the neighborhood playgroup. And a weekend camping trip for my birthday. And then I planned to take my kids on a road trip and visit everyone I knew that would be around during the week – my friend Stephanie and her kids in New Mexico, my friend Missy who is a teacher, my father, my nephews. It would be great. We would fit all our visiting time into one week. We would take my nephews to the zoo, go to the pool with friends, and just enjoy summer.
Now I realize that was all a pipe dream. This stay-at-home mom gig is a lot more difficult than it looks. After the first few days I was exhausted. Kids are non-stop. They fight over everything, refuse to eat anything but junk food and have to be entertained constantly. To top it all off, my son has decided he no longer needs naps and did not take a single nap despite being visibly exhausted every single day. So never did I have a moment alone. I didn’t eat alone, I didn’t pee alone, I couldn’t even shower alone.
The first thing that went out the window was the road trip. The idea of hours and hours in a car with whiny kids seemed unbearable. Instead we decided to have a “staycation.” I thought that way I could at least get in a trip to the gym every day. I actually accomplished this goal but only because I worked out before my kids woke up every morning. We did make it to the park one day – this one involved a train and a petting zoo so it was extra special and I 
could technically cross off “zoo” on my stay-at-home week to-do list. At the end of our park/zoo trip both kids threw a kicking, screaming fit before being hauled into the car (I was SURE my son would fall asleep and take a nap on the way home from this excursion but I was wrong). We also made it to the swimming pool. In fact, my son refused to leave the pool every day u
ntil it closed. Every night he was the very last kid in the pool. (Even though he could barely keep his eyes open from lack of a nap) And we caught up with my friend Missy and her kids, enjoying an epic water balloon battle in the backyard.
But never once did I catch my breath. I never got a healthy meal on the table at a decent time. I never cleaned my house. It was potentially the least relaxing vacation ever. I am forever grateful for these special memories with my children but by the end I have an all new respect for stay-at-home mothers and I just want to say “I’m sorry!” I’m sorry for assuming your summers were more fun. I’m sorry for being jealous of the things you were able to do with your kids every day. I’m sorry for thinking that your lives were easier than mine. What I learned from my time at home is that there are huge challenges to every job. But the challenges are different. The challenges of television producing are completely different from the challenges of being a stay-at-home mom. Instead of thinking the grass is always greener on the other side we all just need to band together and recognize that there is no perfect scenario. In the end I owe all stay-at-home moms a big apology and an even bigger glass of wine.
CHEERS!