The Last Weekend before The First Week

This is it - my last weekend as the mom of three kids at home. As of Tuesday, all three kids will be in school full time. K is going into fourth grade, C into second, and A is starting kindergarten. For the first time since, um, ever? - I will have uninterrupted time to myself. I have no current intention to go back to a paid job. Therefore, the time is "mine" - I get to decide what I am doing. Anyone who has ever been a "housewife" (ugh), "homemaker" (do I look like a builder?), or "unemployed" (since when was running a household not work?) knows that there will still be quite a lot to do. It's just that I now get to decide what to do and when to do it, and to spend more than an hour or so on the project.

I was a "working mom" from when K was born in 1998 until C was born in 2000, at which point I became a "stay at home mom" (SAHM) since C was born in 2000. I've done some paid consulting work since then, but most of my efforts have been geared towards the kids. From my POV, the only major difference in how this role change affected my kids was that I quit outsourcing the daytime childcare. All moms work hard, regardless of whether they have an income that the IRS recognizes. Before C was born, I was dual-income. Now I just get a single income - I am paid in hugs and kisses. Any money I get comes from the BUMD. As far as he's concerned, I am more than earning it by making sure all of our lives go smoothly. Between his often-crazy schedule, three kids with ADHD, one who also has Autism, and another who also has a rare genetic condition, and Moi, this is no mean feat. But that's my job, and I signed up for it.

Sure, there are people with more complicated lives. Bless their hearts, but I'm not writing for or about them. This blog is just about me, my family, and my next step in motherhood. I've survived Mom 101, the little kids at home years. Now, I'm on to Mom 102 - everyone's at school most of the time. Hopefully, I'll someday be writing about Mom 103 - the empty nest years. And maybe, just maybe - Mom 104, the grandparenting years. That's to be determined by the kids. No pressure to have grandkids - that's perhaps the greatest gift our parents gave us, and look what they got in return: