Well.
It's really happening. It's not temporary, it's for The Rest Of My Life. I will never again be a stay at home mom with a baby, carefully scheduling my days around feedings and naptimes and loads of laundry that can't sit wet in the washer for more then 3 seconds because then they will reek and have to be washed all over again.
Yeah, I'm a little OCD. What ?
ANYWAY, now that the kids are out of the house, I am kind of freaking out. A little bit. Okay, listen, I am totally freaking out. What the HELL am I going to do with myself ? No, really. WHAT ? Between the hours of 8 and 2, 4 days a week (I work Fridays, and some nights and weekends) I am going to be free as a BIRD ! FOREVER !
That is a lot of time, y'all.
I have put out feelers for volunteer opportunities, and that is definitely in the works. But in the meantime......
It's been a week. What have I done with myself for the past week ? Well, first I shoveled all of the accumulated crap out of the house. The kids rooms are SPOTLESS. I moved furniture and everything. No, I really did. And then I had a yard sale. And then I listed stuff on Craigslist. And then I kind of ran out of stuff to do. And amazingly, I STILL forgot a doctor's appointment yesterday morning. (shakes head sadly) I used to blame that stuff on the kids, but now there is No One To Blame.
This empty nest thing is lame.
In an attempt to feel productive, I have been filling my hours gradually, running errands and doing chores around the house. But that can't be the be-all end-all. I will lose my mind. I'm halfway there already after 8 years at home with the kids. So maybe I should have a little R and R. Yes. Right. Me Time.
First I went to a yoga class. At the end of the class, the instructor announced he was going on vacation for a month.
Alrighty then. Forget the yoga.
I spent an entire morning at the DMV, then went out to lunch with a friend and had a bloody mary - and I ended up kind of woozy and had to take a nap. So I guess I won't become one of the "ladies who lunch". Which is too bad, because that sounded pretty good to me.
I was going to clean the bathroom yesterday, but (I'm going to be honest here) I just really didn't want to. So I went to the beach and lay there with my eyes closed because I could. And that was AWESOME (and FREE!) but I can't possibly just go to the beach all day every day for the rest of my life.
Or can I ?
All the ladies out there who are stay at home mom's to school-age kids, and have time during the day to actually, you know, think. And do things. I know you are out there. I'm new around here. What do we do ?
You know what I do ?
I start another blog.
whatsmommydoing.blogspot.com
I'll be there looking for things to keep me busy.
Suggestions welcome.
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Oh, you've made me laugh, thank you! I woke up at 4am with just this dilemma buzzing in my ear. I tossed and turned, and obsessed, and became convinced that I had succeeded in ruining my daughter's psyche by deciding to become a SAHM nine years ago. How would she ever overcome my new and permanent aimlessness?! (Then I got a snack and rational thinking came back online with a little blood sugar :) ) But still... What the hell am I going to do? So come on all you ladies who are just a little bit further down the road, tell us, please, what map are you using???
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