Settling into My New Job: Sandwich-Gen SAHM

Hubby, the boys and Gramms all
greatly appreciate the yummy treats
I've been making as a SAHM.

It’s been over four months since I began my adventure as a sandwich-gen SAHM. With a third of a year under my belt, I’m just now starting to settle into my new role. Routines are beginning to shape my days and weeks. Productivity is going up. Best of all, I’m still 100 percent sure that our decision for me to resign my fulltime job was the right one.

At first, Hubby, our kids and me all struggled with my new role. Visions of nightly gourmet meals, a clean house, and both kitchen and outdoor gardens danced in our heads. However, we failed to consider that I do not have a staff to assist me make such visions a reality. On the nights we sit down to a homemade meal, the housecleaning suffers. I might remember to water the indoor plants, but I most likely won’t get a chance to head outside and weed. If I get caught up in gardening, we are most likely going to have to order pizza. And on my housecleaning days, I prefer we just go out to eat. It’s nice to walk into a clean house after a big meal that someone else cooked and served.

I'm greatly enjoying the time I
now have to write as well as
sell and sign my books.

My writing was also supposed to take off when I began my at-home career. Funny, but after the morning and afternoon trips to the school in addition to grocery shopping, banking, laundry, sweeping, and working out, there is precious little time left to write. Especially since Hubby and I have healthy social lives. It’s easy to say yes to friends and neighbors who want to get together, because I can always justify that without these life experiences, I’d have nothing about which to write.

In the beginning, I over committed. As a result, I’m now a member of two boards and have successfully pulled off a community theater leading role. I’m working on saying no. My children seem to think saying no is easy for me. Maybe if I imagine the people who ask me to do things are my children, I’ll have more success with polite refusals.

But as the weeks melt into months, I get a little better at juggling my schedule as well as the schedules of everyone else in our household. The house isn’t quite as messy. We eat more homemade meals. My garden is even starting to take shape. And, best of all, I’m writing almost as much as I'd imagined. 

Micki Bare, mother of three, wife, daughter & writer is the author of Thurston T. Turtle children's books. 

Email: mickibare (at) gmail.com

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Micki Bare's Blog (Arkansas News Bureau)