This year my three children are all in school, which means five days a week for four hours a day I am child-free. The number one question I get when I tell people this amazing news is always, what will you do with all that free time? I hope that they are joking.
I could provide those individuals with a laundry list of ways that I may potentially spend those 4 hours, which would of course include actual laundry but normally I don’t. I could drag them to my home and have them watch me clean toilets, do dishes, grocery shop, and prep meals for four hours but that might be awkward. I usually let these folks slide because while I may not appreciate the question and the insinuation that my life as a stay-at-home mom is easy and carefree, I do understand their point. I think they are simply asking what I will do now that my life is changing. How will I spend my time when I don’t have three children grabbing, pulling, pushing, and screaming for my undivided attention and I am actually left with (gasp) a little free-time?
I have been out of the workforce for seven years. I did once have a career, a nicer wardrobe, and a whole host of responsibilities and obligations much different from the ones I have today. As a stay-at-home mom, I now feel so far removed from the life I led before my children that I could not even begin to imagine how I would get back there. When friends ask me if I ever plan to go back to work I always answer with “one day”. The truth is that idea terrifies me but I can sense that my “one day” may soon be upon me. So, what do I do now?
Enter a simple advertisement that I stumbled upon. It read, “Bloggers wanted- We are looking for someone who loves to write. We are looking for individuals who may want to dust off that diploma, put down the toilet brush, and spend a little time writing about their children. We are in need of someone with a little (gasp) free-time.” Okay, maybe the ad didn’t say all that but that’s what it said to me.
So readers, I took a risk, a sort of toe-in-the-water attempt to re-enter the workforce after seven years risk and, here I am. I hope that you will join me on this journey as we laugh over the triumphs and tribulations of being a parent. I hope through my posts and your comments, we can talk about the highs, the lows, the tricks for removing the mysterious goo from the carpet, and all that goes along with raising children.
Being a parent is the best job ever and having an opportunity to write about being a parent is awesome. Now when people ask me what I will do with all that time, and before I take them for a fun day of waiting in line at Walmart I can tell them, “I’m a writer.”
Kari Smith is a former Army wife and an over-caffeinated mother to three children and one precocious Puggle. She is an avid reader, a margarita connoisseur, and a crafty DIY’er. She has spent the last 10 years in North Carolina with the past 5 in the Sandhills area. While originally a Northerner, she has been guilty of using y’all and will regularly bless your heart. Follow her as she blogs Moore Tales of Motherhood.
Kari, we’re so glad you decided to write!