mr. mom saves the day

Sometimes mommy just needs a day off… to work.

I’m new at mommyhood. We’re only four months into this gig and I’m still undergoing very rigorous on-the-job training. (And it’s appropriate to say here that I’m absolutely loving it… for real.)

But this last week I’ve had this growing awareness that… unlike most jobs, I never get a day off. Because when your “job” is to be a mommy, that doesn’t change at 5:00pm Friday evening. (Not that I’d want it to.)

My husband works hard all week. And then he comes home and works hard all weekend. He’s an amazing daddy and an amazing husband, and he definitely does his fair share of caring for our son when he’s not at work. His weekends are as full as mine – wanting to use those “days off” to get things done around the house: fix things, work on projects, yard work, etc.

(And let’s not forget that we want—and need—to have family time as well. My husband and I have a strong conviction that rest and fun are good, healthy, and right. Family recreation is important... This is a given.)

But as full as those weekends are for my hard-working husband, the difference is that he gets a change in the type of work he’s doing… unlike me.

And you know what they say… that sometimes the best vacation is just a change? Well, I’m beginning to see that truth on a micro level too.

And this weekend I just needed a slight change.

I realized that what I wanted more than anything was just to have a day off to work. I needed to tend to some things that require more than sporadic attention… things that require (relatively) uninterrupted focus… like our family ministry communication and my Australian immigration paperwork.

And that’s where Mr. Mom came to my rescue.

My dear husband spent all of Saturday looking after Levi – every diaper, every naptime, every tear, and every little song and game. He also cooked the dinner (including dessert!) and cleaned the house while I locked myself in our office and got some of the things done that had been piling up. (Because as much as I love and value spending time on the floor, there comes a point where you do have to buckle down and fulfil some other responsibilities. This weekend was one of those times.)

I still got to see my little Levi at brief interludes throughout the day—and we had our time together when I nursed him—but for the first time in four months I wasn’t with him the majority of the day like I usually am.

I’ll admit that I missed him a little. But at the same time, my day of “work” was so refreshing. It was good to have a change of pace, and of course it was also good to finally cross some things off of my to-do list.

And please don’t misread me here. It’s not that I haven’t had any fun or rest since Levi’s birth—I have. It’s not been all mommy-duties and no time for anything else. And I have had partial days "off". (My hubs and I also believe that a child comes into a family… he doesn’t rule it.) It’s just that this was my first complete day of having someone else care for my beautiful baby... and by complete I mean literally from the moment he woke up in the morning until the moment his eyes shut that night. 

It was complete... And it was good.

I wouldn’t trade my job for the world. I adore mommyhood even more than I had anticipated I would. But even still, sometimes we just need a day off… even if that means it’s a day off to get some work done. (*smile*)

And let's face it... at least in my family the boys are more than happy to have an entire day together. Everyone wins.

Now... for my next day off: shopping and the beach? (*still smiling*)

Oh, and for the record, that was Saturday. On Sunday we all went for a long drive into the country and took a bush walk together... A beautiful, sunny family day of rest and fun that we could all enjoy.

P.S. When I asked Ryan to give me a "Mr. Mom pose" for this post he insisted I wait so that he could put flour on his face. (Someone's been watching too many movies.) Yup, that's my man... whom I adore. And, that's my other little man - the cute, teething, rolling-pin-chewer man.


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