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Mommy Duties
My son is three years old and recently potty trained. It was a long, hard battle but we finally made it over the finish line, and it feels so good. However, today we took them to the park because they bug us to go every day so since it was nice outside, we thought it was a perfect day to go. They ran around that park until Jay stopped in his tracks with that look on his face like he had to go potty. Henry shouted to me that it was time to leave and Jay quickly straightened up and protested he did not have to go to the bathroom, he was fine. But we knew the real issue was he didn’t want to leave the park. I had to practically drag him to the car with promises that we would return after he used the potty.
We get to the house he used the bathroom but no, number two. I reminded him that he needed to poopoo, but he continued with his story that he didn’t have to go. So, we go on about our day, deciding it’s too late to return to the park at this point. As we are finally settling down for dinner Harlei crawls under the table, which is her sign that she has to potty, so we rush her upstairs to which Jay follows stating now, he has to use the potty. Once finished with Harlei, Jay is left to use the toilet as he is a big boy now and prefers, he does things himself. Moments later Jay is running down the stairs dancing around with no clothes on (this is usually his I used the potty dance that we all cheer and praise him for). However, this time, instead of going in the potty he went IN the bathroom, literally. There was poop everywhere. It was smeared all over the toilet, the floor the mats, tub, it was utterly disgusting! I will spare the rest of the details but the whole thing was traumatizing, to say the least.
This is going to sound funny and like a contradiction to everything I am but since I’ve had kids, I’ve always wanted to be a stay at home mom. Welcome 2020 and the Covid-19 Pandemic and overnight my wishes were granted. As far as working from home, my company actually made me full-time WAH right after Harlei was born, so there was really no change for me on that particular front. Before the pandemic, it was the policy that there be a caregiver in the house if children were there while you worked. So, between my husband, mother, and daycare my kids were always under supervision while I worked. When the pandemic hit, I had to snatch my son out of daycare and my mom along with the rest of the world was now in isolation while Henry’s job was deemed essential.
All I have to say is, be careful what you ask for. Now I love my kids but working full time and being a stay at home mom simultaneously is hard! I am basically working two full-time jobs. The kids make it worse though because kids don’t understand the concept of breaks and I can't turn them off at the end of the day like I do the computer. In the mornings I tip-toe around as I get ready, praying I don’t wake them up. I try to let them sleep as long as possible so that I can at least scarf down some breakfast, sign on to my computer, check my emails, and set up my day. This plan is successful sometimes, but when it fails, it’s all downhill from there.
Yesterday, my son got up as soon as I hit the power button on my computer, he was half asleep and only wanted to be in my arms, so I had to pick him up and rock him while I tried to log on. This was a very difficult task with my arms around him and his arms secured around my neck. As I tried to answer emails and keep him comfortable, I was experiencing a huge amount of discomfort. When I finally got him back to sleep, I tried to lay him down again but of course, he woke right back up and started screaming. So now I am trying to answer emails and console him while he’s screaming at the top of his lungs that he wants me. My husband texted me in the midst of this asking how my day was going, when I explained what was happening, he suggested I put him in the shower to calm him down. Now, I have to stop everything I’m doing and cater to Jay’s needs. A shower and twenty minutes later I had him dressed and calm. As I settle back down into my chair to once again log on to my computer, here comes Jay, “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
School starts September 8th, and Jay will be distance learning which means I will be adding yet another job to my resume – teacher. Did I mention how excited I am about that?