For My [Stay-At-] Homies

With my son napping and my daughter in her sling, I found myself in the playroom this afternoon sorting and putting away the books, the toys, the flash cards, and the Duplo blocks... with my feet.

You heard me.

It took the better part of half an hour, and my legs are a little sore (seriously, try it sometime), but it was a fun little game and a welcome diversion from the daily routine. 

If you're saying to yourself, "Man, that's just sad," I'd almost bet money you aren't a stay-at-home mom with very small children. This post isn't for you. It's probably best you just move along.

No, this post is dedicated to all the other SAHMs out there. You other ladies who find yourself saying things incomprehensible outside our circle, like "oh, it's just pee"... who know what a rare and slightly surreal experience it is to go [shopping] [potty] [damn near anywhere] without an entourage... who find yourself standing in the checkout line still doing the standing-on-a-cruise-ship sway even when you aren't holding your baby... this one's for you.

Oh, the freaking irony:  my son just woke up from his nap... crying. Guess I'm done with this post.

Can one of you take over from here? :)

Comments

[ann c.]

Kelly, Kelly,
Oh how I do know about picking up cag with my toes and working quietly so little ones will sleep just 15 minutes longer. And now I know the struggle of keeping school age kids working or playing quietly so babies don't wake up. What wonderful crazy work we do, Most days I can't hear myself think from all the noise, and yet a dear friend of mine just married off her daughter and her son moved out on his own, and she says, "The quiet is deafening. Oh to have just a little noise in the house again."
It is so easy for me to want all the noise and the breaking of thinhgs (that inveriably happens when there are immature, clumsy hands in a house) to stop and I want to run away from it all, but I am reminded to take it all in and don't wish for the future, it comes rushing by fast enough.
Enjoy your babies. Take some time for you when you can, I know it's hard to do, trust me. But this is a good life and a worthy thing you are doing.

another SAHM trying to raise little ones for His glory,
ann

[mrs. n]

Yeah, every time I find myself wishing the baby would just take a freaking nap so I can [insert any number of activities here], I remind myself that, just as with her brother, the days of wishing she was still small enough to hold while she sleeps will be upon me long before I'm ready. Carpe diem.

And, what's "cag"?

[ann c.]

it's a slang for "cargo and gear"-- military jargon.
winks,
ann
P.S. sure wishin' my girl Sarah P. was in washington today...aahh

[mrs. nygren]

Gotcha.

And, it's probably for the best that "Sarah P." isn't in Washington. I suspect she'd be ill at ease, since she can't see Russia from there and would therefore have no way of knowing when Putin was rearing his head...
:)

[kristen]

i don't know. I mean, I get it, i get it - they'll grow up, I'll miss little sweet-smelling baby heads and all that, but it's like I wrote on my sister-in-law's facebook wall:

isn't it times like this when someone inevitably tells you to enjoy it because this time in your life won't last forever? and when you inevitably want to roundhouse kick them to the face for saying something as asinine as that?

[ann c.]

WoW! You like Obama that much, eh?
JM wasn't that great, I know, but I was sad to see the media misrepresent Sarah. I think she's not as ignorant as they made her out to be and I also think the media was in the tank for Obama as soon as they realized Hilary wasn't gonna make it.
I think Sarah Palin is a classic. I think she represents a lot of women in this country. Besides the fact that she loves God and isn't into government funded abortions and all. I also think a lot of people are crazy about Obama. I hope he's able to unite America as he says he wants to. Those are my thoughts...

[mrs. n, again]

"Wow" is right, Ann -- but more like, "wow, where did all that come from, who said anything about Obama, and what does any of it have to do with a post about stay-at-home motherhood?"

My reply to your Sarah Palin comment had nothing to do with Obama. It found its origins in an interview I watched where she was asked whether she had ever personally engaged in trade negotiations with Russia. This was her answer [in its entirety]:

"We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state."

They're her own words and they're in the context of an interview where she makes other comments like this one, so I don't think there's a lot of room for misinterpretation.

Other than her voting record (which is public information), everything you and I know about her came through one media source or another -- be it political ads, televised interviews and debates, news articles, "voter guidelines" that various groups distribute, forwarded emails, and yes, even blogs. :) So rather than say that the media misinterpreted her or made her out to seem more ignorant than she is, it would be more accurate to say you're inclined to believe the media sources that portrayed her more favorably.

Now then, let me be clear: I wasn't trying to shoot you down, Ann, and my one-liner was intended as political humor, not a personal jab. In a conversation about something completely unpolitical, you stated a political opinion on my blog -- one I can't help but think you knew I didn't share -- and I, in turn, stated one too.

If you concluded that I made such a remark about Sarah Palin because "[I] like Obama that much," or that abortion isn't as important an issue to me as it is to you, then you came to your answer by earnest effort but incorrect logic. If you'd like to know exactly what my political beliefs are, then give me a couple days -- diaper changes and laundry permitting -- and I'll lay them out in an upcoming post.

Much love to you, old friend (and high hopes of being able to disagree agreeably).

[ann c.]

Sorry to use your blog comment space for that. And yeah, I was pretty shocked when i saw you didn't like Sarah, which made me assume you liked the other guy, our new president. I'll look for your next post and stop using up space here.

grace to you.

[You know who]

I think SP is AWESOME. I will vote for her on my way to my job at the ice cream factory on my Magic Pony. Until then, I find that plenty of intelligent, thinking women who are spirit filled Christians dislike her as a politician regardless of their opinion of Obama. Yes, Kelly I Will USE YOUR BLOG to say political stuff, Thanks!