The challenges of being a SAHM

Those of you who are not SAHM's probably think that we have it easy, that it is a simple job with little or no thought involved, well I am here to tell you otherwise. Being a SAHM is actually more like having 6 jobs and not just one. Our jobs include but are not limited too, cook, cleaner, laundry person, taxi cab, personal shopper, and nurse. One of the biggest things is that we don't get to go home at the end of the day and have a "break" from our job. We work 24 hours a day 7 days a week and don't get holidays or weekends off. If we did there would be a lot less women out there that go through the day chanting "I love my kids. I love my kids. I love my kids. " . Don't get me wrong I really do love my kids and I enjoy staying home with them (most days) but every once in a while, you get one of those moments that just force you over the edge of that cliff you have been teetering on since your daughter tried to give the cat a hair cut.

Another challenge that I find I have is trying to figure out what to make for supper. After a while you run out of ideas. I mean there are only so many things you can do with chicken and beef without having a degree in cooking. This challenge leads into another challenge. Its the try not to slap your husband for saying something like "that again. Can't we have something different?" This I have found to be one of the most difficult challenges yet. I can't count the number of times poor Colin has come home and said something that has made me want to give him a black eye. I haven't of course but let me tell you it was close there for a few minutes.

Speaking of things that Colin said made me think of another challenge. The don't hurt your husband for things he says because he really is that unsmart sometimes challenge. I am sure every SAHM has heard these words come out of her husbands mouth at one time or another. When you ask them to help get the kids to bed he says "I'm tired, I worked all day." to which you give the response "Yeah cause I sat on my butt and ate bonbons all day.". Or he says to a friend " hey Cindy can do that for me she doesn't do anything during the day anyways." this one usually earns him the glare of death. Then there is my personal favorite stupid man comment. let me set the scene for you. You have worked all day, cleaning and scrubbing and polishing and washing. Then your daughter and husband come home and take off there stuff and throw it all over and get a snack and leave plates everywhere, the kids get out all the toys and leave them on the floor in the living room then your husband sits down on the couch with a drink. He looks around and says .....are you ready for it? "what did you do today?". After the redness is gone from my vision I usually tell him "nothing I took the day off!" then I go and hide in the bathroom with a book and a warm bath and stay there until the water is cold and the urge to choke him with his bootlace is gone. Now remember they aren't like this all the time it just seems to come in spurts. Like when they have a bad day at work they seem to feel the need to spread the cheer around. I really wish he would quit doing that.

The other challenge is dealing with people who treat you like being a SAHM is easy and that you don't deserve to breathe the same air as them because they have a "real" job. I have actually been told this once. I was filling out a form of some sort and the woman asked me what my job was. I told her I was a SAHM, to which she replied "how nice for you. But do you have a real job?" After a brief moment of stunned silence I convinced myself that she must not have had any kids and if she did then she mist certainly had never stayed home with them. If she had then she would have known that I do have a "real " job. I have come to realize after my 5 years as a full time SAHM that some people just have that kind of mentality and nothing short of leaving them alone with your children for a week is going to change there mind so why bother.

So those my friends are some of the challenges of being a SAHM. If you have more please share them. I would love to hear from you.