Stay-At-Home Irritants

So I know that because I have chosen to be a stay-at-home mom, my work environment is a little different from those that work outside of the home. Granted, I don't spend every waking moment in my house, I flit about from the grocery store, to Target, to Kindermusik and back to the grocery store, but I would consider my "office" to be my house. I enjoy that I have all of the comforts of home and feel very fortunate as well, it is wonderful...most of the time. However, I have come to realize being home during the day all week long certainly has it's drawbacks.

Let's start with the fact that everyone, including but not limited to; delivery people, lawn maintenance workers and even all those hoodlum teenagers getting off the bus, assume that these houses they are working around, delivering to or walking past, are empty all day long. I am here to tell you - that is NOT the case! Ok, so maybe the teenagers wouldn't care either way (I was one in the not so distant past, so I remember how they operate), but everyone else needs to get a frickin' clue!

Everytime you slam your tools on the ground, yell to your co-workers on the next block or stand there screaming into your cell phone while holding a running leaf blower (less than 10 feet from a row of houses) you are disturbing the stay-at-home moms like myself. Of course, I have inevitably just put down my very irritable toddler for a much needed nap in order to get a few minutes to myself to complete a thought or just get from one side of a room to the other without a small child attached to my leg. So to all those people outside my house, do you have any idea of how obnoxious that is? Or how much self control it takes to keep me from flinging myself out my front door to ram that damn leaf blower down your throat?!

By the way, just a note, leaf blowing in the pouring rain or when the sidewalks have been freshly salted due to ice, is... REALLY NOT NECESSARY!!!!

I digress.

I know this is not just me...any stay-at-home mom with small children would agree, I'm sure of it. But if you don't believe me, go test this theory on a woman who has been watching the Disney channel all morning while doing laundry, cleaning and trying to wrangle a very stubborn 18 month old, I dare you...

Getting back to the point, I understand that it is not your fault that the idiot builder who chose the windows for my home decided to go with absolutely no sound insulation even though these houses are practically on top of one another. I also understand that you are just trying to do your job. All I'm saying is that, when you come into my "office," show some respect and keep it down!

I'm a Wuss at Weaning

Let's face it, I as a middle child, am completely averse to change. I can own that, however, it is probably not the healthiest thing when it comes to my daughter. Change is a part of life, a good part and no child can grow and learn without change...obviously. So here in lies the problem, I am having trouble with each new milestone that brings Layla further from that tiny newborn who needed me for everything, toward a very independent toddler who wants to explore and do more and more for herself. Of course, that is exactly what is supposed to happen and I want nothing more than to raise a strong, independent woman who can take care of herself...I just don't want it to happen so fast.

This brings me to the subject of weaning. I had originally planned to wean Layla at one year, but when the time came I just didn't feel ready to be done. I know for a fact that I am having more trouble than the average Mommy because this could very well be my only chance at nursing a baby and that bonding experience is second to none. So, I'm a wuss. I have made excuses and pushed back my deadline repeatedly. I know that there is nothing wrong with nursing after a year, as a matter of fact, they now recommend that you nurse to two years of age. My problem is that my darling little girl has a mouth full of very sharp teeth...and she uses them. Though I am not fond of being a chew toy, I have pressed on in hopes of continuing the nursing process as long as possible.

However, the time has come and after several months of eliminating nursing sessions and replacing them with a bottle of whole milk(and slowly eliminating those), I have finally concluded my 16 1/2 month journey of breastfeeding my baby. It was a very sad thing for me and I know that in the days to come it will be sadder still, but it was for the best and hopefully the prevention of a serious injury by my saber-tooth toddler (I also have no desire to be one of those creepy moms that has a six year old climbing under their shirt in the middle of a play date at the park).

Layla of course has taken it all in stride and is completely oblivious to the fact that I have been agonizing over this for months. She simply puts her adorable, chubby hand to my face and smiles, letting me know that all is right in her little world...and that's all I need.

Playing Catch Up

So clearly time management is not my forte, but is that really a surprise to anyone? So much has happened in the last few months that I hardly know where to begin. The holidays were of course super busy and by "busy" I mean stressful!

Thanksgiving was a quiet affair at home with Layla and Matt which was nice and exactly how I prefer our holidays spent in Seattle. The entire month of December was devoted to preparing for our Christmas celebration here and then travel prep for the actual holiday back home in Chicago. We went overboard on presents for Layla, but I think that is allowed and to be expected when you have one child and she is just so darn cute! She loved all of her presents but nothing that we got her compared to her little pink car that she can "drive" around (which really entails us pushing her). Even now two months later, nothing makes that little girl happier than taking her out to "drive." Of course with all the rain that we get in the winter, sometimes it's hard to find the time to get out, luckily Daddy doesn't mind letting her cruise around the living room and kitchen :)

Our trip back to the snow and frigid temperatures of Illinois was not exactly what I would call relaxing. The stress of travel is something that I thought would improve with Layla's age...sadly that is not the case. Crossing two time zones and changing Layla's surroundings every few days in order to stay with all of our families was disastrous! She had a lot of trouble sleeping and was crabby as a result. Of course it was wonderful to see our family, but making that trip is not as easy as it used to be. I think in the future we will need to stop all of the bouncing around and just stay in one place and go hang out with everyone during the day...shouldn't matter where we sleep anyway, right?! It's just getting too difficult and I certainly won't be able to do that if we have any additional children.

When we arrived back in Seattle, we managed to bring a terrible stomach flu bug with us. I, of course got it first and the worst. I spent several days praying to the porcelain gods before it moved on to Matthew. He was really only seriously sick for one day and then Layla got it. Once we were all feeling better we tried to get back on a normal schedule and headed back to Kindermusik. We started the new session and Layla is now the oldest in her class. She seems to enjoy that and has really come out of her shell. Unfortunately, she also got sick from one of those little drool buckets in class and we spent another week recovering.

Thankfully, everyone is currently well (for the moment) and I am starting to get things done that have been on my to-do list for ages. Next up is the battle with the insurance company. Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned...