Day at home

I love being a stay at home mother. I love spending time with my daughter. When she takes her naps or is sleeping, I miss her. Saying this, there are some days that are more challenging than others. Friday was one of those days. My husband got a call to work for a friend. Since the work place was not on a bus route, he had to take the car.

I thought that we could have home adventures. Our apartment has a pool and an outdoor park. Friday comes and, not only is it raining, but the pool is also closed. So, here I am at home with nothing to do.

Not only is it raining, but Meredith was not very happy. She must be teething and growing at the same time. So, we watched more TV then I usually let her and read lots of books. We looked out our window to see what we could see and walked up and down the halls.

Since she is growing, this makes her more tired. For the first time in months,                                  she took 2 naps!! So, even though she was cranky and it rained all day, it all worked out. 

All this to say is that there are many mothers out there who are based from home most days and I am spoiled to have one child and able to use a car on a regular basis.

Point break down:

-50 points for letting her watch more TV then other days

50 points for making play dough for the first time

50 points for figuring out she was tired and putting her down for her naps

200 points: 2 points for each time I read a book to her (we don’t have 100 books, but I read some books 4-5 times)..... ps. this is not exact math J

Point total: 300 points!

Growing up

One of the things I hate most is putting away cloths that Meredith has outgrown. When I put away her 0-3 months cloths, my heart almost broke. Today was another milestone. I put away her 12 months cloths and her winter 18 month cloths. My baby is getting so big and growing up way to fast.  I have a hard time letting go. But, these moments help me to hold on to each and every precious moment I have with her and to enjoy our time together. Soon enough, she will off to school all day and wanting to spend all her time away from home instead of insisting I take part in every event in her life.

Daily points:

200 points: spending 1 ½ hours sorting cloths and putting her room back together

50 points: leaving play group early due to a tantrum and giving her some mom time

Day total: 250 points

sick.......again

I don’t know what it is about kids, but mine gets sick all the time. I feel like every few weeks, Meredith has a fever, or throws up or something to that nature. Today, she threw up twice. She had no other symptoms, so my only guess is that she reacted to something she had to eat last night.

Points for the day

-50 points for not knowing why she was sick

200 points for taking care of her all day

100 points for cleaning up floors and the bed after her episodes.

Point total: 250

In other news: today was a glorious day! Since Meredith was feeling better in the afternoon, we spent much of it outside!

work time

Even though I am a stay at home mom, every now and then I work. I have my teaching degree and I use it every so often to supply teach or do some other casual work.  Today was one of those days where I went to supply teach. I really enjoy this arrangement. I get to spend a majority of my days at home, but every now and then I get do something else then being a mother. Teaching is something I love to do. So, even though I miss Meredith like crazy, I enjoy teaching every now and then.

Point break down:

200 points for giving Meredith a daddy/daughter day

100 points for making some money for the family

50 points for note being to jealous of my husband Greg for spending time with Meredith

50 points for getting to experience what Greg does every day he goes to work

Total points: 400 points

Sleep Training

Last week, I took my daughter Meredith for her 18^th month check up. There, the doctor told me that I should stop giving Meredith milk in a bottle, but only in a sippy cup and only give her water in a bottle.

So, last night was our first night and I have to say it went better than I thought it would. The night started with her screaming and getting out of her crib, but that was my fault because I put her to bed when she was not tired. Then, she woke up at 1am and did not take the water and only screamed for an hour and a half. She then woke up around 7am.

Points for the day:

 -100 for not sleep training her earlier

200 points for sticking with it and not giving in while she was screaming

Total points: 100

Shots!

Today I took Meredith for her 18 month check up and her shots. It’s one of those days that no mother really looks forward to because kids don’t like shots. Meredith took the shots like a champ and only cried for 2 seconds after the shots. This is probably because she has spent so much energy throwing tantrums on the waiting room and the doctor’s office. Oh well, at least we got it done.

Point break down:

100 points for holding Meredith in her tantrums

200 points for not crying myself or breaking down

-50  points being a month late for her shots

60 points for not waking her up from car seat to crib

Point total: 310

On good news, we don’t have to take her back until she is 2. In bad news, tomorrow we will be taking her milk bottles away and giving it to her in sippy cups. The only upside is that I may acquire many mom points for my patience during this time.

Spring!

Today, we had our first real spring activity! The weather was perfect, so we had a family picnic. We went to a park near the water and enjoyed eating while Meredith watched the birds. It was the perfect way to start spring!

Point Break down:

20 points for putting the picnic together

30 points for not witnessing Meredith hurt the wild life or go into the water

In other daily points: 160 points: 20 points for every laundry load washed, dried, folded and put away.

Day total: 210!!

Wow, I should do household chores more often and accumulate more points

How the points work

Growing up, my friends and I would sometimes randomly assign points to random things. For instance, one winter we all went skating and points were allotted for falling, bumping into people and other such things. These points were randomly given and had no value and there was no prize for the person who received the most points.

One day I had a long day with my 18 month old daughter, Meredith, and I decided that this point system could be used in motherhood.  I started to think that I should randomly assign myself points for how “well” I mother.

Meredith had a hard day today. She has been sick and not sleeping well which makes her grumpy all day. She started the day by screaming and not being happy with anything including food. Without going into all the specifics of my day, let’s just say that the rest of the day was much of the same.

Point break down:

20 points for not going crazy,

40 points for cleaning her car seat clean from vomit

I might have to subtract 5 points for letting her sit in her own vomit for 10 minutes

Day total:  55 points.

So, even though it was a long hard day, I came out all right with points

If you read this blog, please do not give me points of take some away. Please feel free to share your day and randomly assign yourself points. Points can be assigned for anything and you have complete control as to how many points you give yourself or take away. 

Please follow me as I raise my daughter at home and experience all the joys and trials of motherhood.