Someone once told me the best thing you can do to keep from going crazy staying at home is to do at least one thing out of the house every day. Or maybe I just made that up and I told it to myself as an excuse to go to Starbucks more often... either way we try to get out of the house at least once a day. We do this because one, it helps me feel like a person instead of a dairy cow two, the boys LOVE being anywhere but inside and three, I mean, Starbucks.
Transitioning from the hustle and bustle of a 9-5 okay... sometimes 5-9 job, as a teacher and coach to a 24/7 mama has been difficult in so many ways but not the ways I expected. I expected the spit up and the poop (so much poop y'all) but what I didn't expect was the sheer exhaustion and loneliness that comes with being a mom. There's a certain moment that happens for every parent when you realize this is your job, it never ends, there are no weekends from parenting, there are no holidays - you are now and always will be this tiny human's mama or daddy. My job is the same every hour of every day, it is a job I love but I would be lying if I said it wasn't strange to go from having a scheduled day and routine to having nothing but diaper changes and breastfeeding to clock the hours. I suppose the transition for my husband was an equally hard albeit different one, while he gets to "escape" as I sometimes call it to the office, he still comes home to a second, and even more demanding job - there are no more lazy weekends spent on the lake or the couch.
Of course I also expected to feel alone, but I guess I just thought, I'll be so busy I won't notice. I noticed and it was bad. Like "stay in the same yoga pants for 4 days because who really notices anyways?" bad. I am a social person, the kind of person who used to wander around on their conference period saying hello to everyone and catching up on the school yard gossip instead of whatever it is productive people do during that time. If I am being 100% honest, and I'm all about that honesty... being at home all day I sort of felt as though I had lost my sense of direction. What I didn't realize was that I had plenty to do and a million directions to go I just didn't have someone telling me what to do or where to go. That's a weird feeling - to go from 85% structured by someone else to 100% structured by you.
So I decided we would go somewhere - out of the house - every day - even if that somewhere is just a scenic drive while I talk to my best friend on the phone while she does the exact same thing on the other side of the country. Some days we go for walks, long walks with iced coffee and great conversation. Some days we go to the store, some days we just play in the front yard and talk to the neighbors. Not every day is a good day but I can say without a doubt that some of our best days are the days we get out of the house. Those few weeks the boys were sick with the cold from hell - we still managed to play in the front yard - and the days we didn't - I felt claustrophobic. I felt like the walls were caving in.
And before you even ask, yes sometimes it does take longer to get out than the actual outing, but even those days I'm glad I did it because it gave me break from the routine and I got to wander just a little.
And for those of you who only stop by for the cute pictures, below are some from our outings this week...
Owen insisted on being in the grass instead of on the blanket
He was really excited about the grass - as you can see
Again with the grass... we might have a future landscaper on our hands
Wyatt LOVES to nap in the stroller - he even hums to himself until he falls asleep
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