So What Do We Do These Days?

Ten hours. TEN HOURS!!! That's how much time I must fill each day, or rather fill for a 16 month old little girl. And she is a girl who is quickly growing, changing, learning and asserting her independence on an amazing level (i.e. fighting my decisions and choices about half the day). Now I know this is nothing new for thousands of moms across the world, they stay at home with their children every day. But for someone who was thrown kicking and screaming (at least a little) into the stay at home realm, well filing 10 hours is a little bit of a shock. OK, that 10 hours is the elephant and I'm the mouse kind of shock.

I have never (ever) thought the job of a stay at home mom was easy. My mom stayed home with us for many years, and I saw how much she worked. And it's not just the work, it's the mental and emotional drain that some days can be - that I am now learning first hand. It's not easy to entertain a little one for hours on end and make sure a good portion of that entertainment is educational. Then mix in the meals and the diaper changes and the house cleaning that I do when I can - phew! There's a reason I've never yearned to be a stay at home mom.

Of course, it must be said that although our days have their challenges, I REALLY, TRULY do love being with my little girl so much. I've already seen the way she treats me change (for the better) since I've been staying home. She's more cuddly with me, more gentle most of the times and more likely to cling to me (which probably isn't the best thing). It's cute and very endearing. And I know I will treasure these days for the rest of my life because we have mommy/daughter day every day right now.

So back to what we do. It's evolving daily, and I'm constantly on the look out for things the two of us can do. But here's a recent day. Now you can all take a look and see if I'm passing or failing. I know it's not a test, but it kind of feels like one sometimes, doesn't it? Or maybe I'm alone on that one?

We watched the garbage truck as it drove down the street, stopping at each house. Georgia hears it coming (along with kids a mile away), and starts saying "kah, kah." That is car is Georgia-speak.

So we watched the garbage truck, still in our pj's.

For our afternoon activity, I bravely introduced this for the first time:

Thank you Aunt Jenna.

Georgia dabbled in a little painting, but decided crayons were still easier to handle. We'll have to try this one again.

The clean up from the finger painting turned out to be her favorite thing of the day. No surprise... it involved water after all.

So Georgia spent a while in the kitchen sink and screamed and cried when I finally thought there truly were little prunes attached to her feet and I removed her from the sink. Mean, mean mommy.

So add in all the things in between, like the all-important eating, and poof, 10 hours is gone. But the best thing is, mixed in with all the happenings of the day are timeless memories being made that will never, ever end. Maybe this stay at home thing isn't so scary after all. :)