Good day loves.  Shannon here from Life After I “Dew” filling in for Miss Mandy.  I want to take a second to thank Mandy for letting me invade her space for today.  I mean, do you ladies love her as much as I do?  I admire her in so many ways,  I envy her gorgeous home and always fashionable wardrobe and she’s as sweet as pie; she’s the whole package.  I just know she and I would be friends in real life and hopefully one of these days I’ll drive my butt west about 6 hours and meet her in Chi-Town.  Hopefully, one day.

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For now I want to talk about something that Mandy and I have in common, we are both working moms turned stay-at-home-moms {Mandy even takes it up a notch by working at home too}.  Working and being a wife and mom is hard, yo. I mean it’s like nonstop doing something all day.  From the minute your feet hit the floor in the morning until your head hits the pillow that night you are, rushing around, trying to get you and the littles out the door, be a good employee, maintain friendships, get home just in time to make dinner, bathe said littles, clean up and start all over again the next day.

It’s enough to make your head spin.  I remember some days thinking, “how will I ever do it all”?  And then there would be people who actually said, “I don’t know how you do it”, to which I’d reply, “I have to”.  I know it wasn’t meant as a dig but I always felt like that phrase was a big, fat, slap-in-the-face reminder of how much I wanted to be a SAHM.

Fast forward and rewind to about 3 weeks ago and my dream came true.  Due to a voluntary lay-off at my work we decided it was time for me to stay home with Kendall {oh yeah, Kendall is my 18-month-old precious girl}.

One thing I never really thought about was how we would spend our days.  Sure I’d always wanted to be home with her but I never actually thought it would happen and surely never thought about what we’d do if, on the odd chance, it did happen.

To say that it’s different is an understatement.  Sure I don’t have to rush around at 6 am to get me and a toddler out the door by 7, but that doesn’t mean our days are any less hectic.  It’s a HUGE balancing act, being a SAHM.  You have to learn to prioritize and find out what works for you.  For me that means I wake up around 6 and have some “me time”.  Whether that means laying in bed, drinking cream with coffee, doing the 30 Day Shred, or taking a shower that is MY time.  The nice thing about doing this is I don’t have to waste my time during Kendall’s naps doing these things.  During nap I can clean, throw in a load of laundry, catch up on the DVR, read blogs and/or eat in peace.  This works for me.

But how in the world do you keep a very active toddler engaged all day?  I blogged about it and got some amazing suggestions from my readers.  Everything from Story Time at the library to free indoor mall playgrounds, you name it,we’ve tried it!  But also?  I turned to Pinterest, LOTS.  Pinterest is great for toddler activities and honestly I had been pinning some for months but never had the time to do them {working mom woes}.    The day I started staying home I started browsing my “Craft Ideas” board for fun things to do.  We have…

Filled balloons with various fillers {flour, sugar, sprinkles, etc} for some sensory fun.

Painted in plastic bags because my child hates to finger paint.

Had fun with pipe cleaners.

Painted inside of a shoe box.

And then we framed said artwork for the playroom, so fun!

And covered the playroom table in parchment paper and let her go to town with markers!

We’ve been busy but most importantly we’ve been having FUN!  We are loving our new roles.  I can tell Kendall has been a lot more affectionate with me lately, melts my heart. I also love that my mother-in-law {her former care-giver} can be a grandma now, how great for her!?  It’s not all rainbows and butterflies though and to say that being a stay at home mom is easier than being a working mom?  That would be a lie.

After being on both sides of the fence I think I can honestly and accurately say that they are equally tough.  I venture to say being a SAHM is tougher but then again I love it. There are definitely pros and cons to both situations and neither one is wrong or right.  For example, working moms get social interaction and get to get dressed up and put makeup on everyday {helps with self esteem, trust} whereas SAHM have the luxury of being in comfy clothes {my personal favorite perk} and doing laundry during “lunch”.

There are days that I cannot wait till it’s time for nap or, even better, for The Husband to come home.  Some days I find myself longing for the days where she’ll go to preschool for half a day just so I can get a moment of peace and quiet.  Sometimes I think I cannot muster one more episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and then Kendall so sweetly says, “Minnie?!” and I cave. This girl has my whole heart and that is why I chose to be a stay-at-home-mom.  It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had but by far the most rewarding.